


A Hogwarts Story : year 1

by Sixtu16



Series: A Hogwarts Story [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Harry Potter sideline story, M/M, Multi, references to the Harry Potter books
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:46:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 81,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23874913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixtu16/pseuds/Sixtu16
Summary: Clarke, alongside her two best friends Raven and Octavia, receives her letter during the 1991 summer, same year as Harry Potter does.What follows after isn't written in any books; although Harry Potter and co. couldn't have achieved anything if it wasn't for Clarke and her friends.
Relationships: Anya/Raven Reyes, Bellamy Blake/Echo, Bellamy Blake/Raven Reyes, Clarke Griffin/Harry Potter, Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Jasper Jordan/Maya Vie, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake & Lincoln, Raven Reyes/Malefoy
Series: A Hogwarts Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750876
Comments: 150
Kudos: 138





	1. A Letter

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter out of a new story I've been working on! Tell me if you'd like to read more about it. ;)

** A Hogwarts Story, chapter 1 : A letter **

Clarke woke up early; something wasn’t right. The house was quiet, too quiet for her taste. And she had learned to listen; so she knew something was wrong.

As silently as she could manage, she picked up a loose shirt resting on the floor – her mum would probably make a comment about all the clothes scattered around her room, later today – and threw it on.

On her toes, she headed downstairs, still moving as quietly as she could; searching, hearing for something out of place.

“I know you’re up, honey” said a voice from the kitchen.

Busted, Clarke sighed, finishing to get down and walking normally this time.

“How did you know I was moving? I was quiet!” Clarke asked, half-annoyed, “More quiet than sound itself!”

“that’s exactly why I knew you were up” Her mother chuckled, placing a plate with eggs and bacon in front of Clarke who was propping herself on a kitchen stool. “Too much noise is dangerous. But not enough noise is suspicious”.

Clarke scoffed again, digging into her breakfast.

“So” Her mother started, “I have to head to the hospital, but if I don’t come home too late tonight maybe we could…”

Abby hadn’t time to finish her sentence that Octavia Blake was already crashing into their kitchen.

“Griffin! Look!” Octavia shrieked, “I’ve got my letter!”

Abby sighed, knowing that what she had to say wouldn’t matter now. “See you later, honey” She said, leaving the house.

“You’ve received a letter, then what?” Clarke asked, half-bored and half-curious.

Octavia rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell off. “Not any letter, stupid!” She lightly hit Clarke’s arm, “My Hogwarts letter!”

“O, that’s awesome !!” Clarke shrieked too, jumping out of her stool to hug her best friend, “You’re going to go to Hogwarts!”

“Yeah I know, awesome right??” Octavia exclaimed, overly enjoyed by the prospective.

Her parents, although deceased since far too long for Octavia to remember, were both wizards. Bellamy had received his letter, three summers ago; and Octavia had been praying to be accepted to Hogwarts too ever since.

Clarke watched as her best friend was reading her letter; happy for her, because it was all that Octavia had wanted, to be a part of something bigger, and meet people who belonged together.

But still, it was kind of hurting a little, too; because Clarke would never get that chance. Both her parents were muggles, and Clarke only knew about wizards because her two best friends were part of this world, and because her mother was a doctor in a wizard hospital.

“Does that mean that Raven got her letter too?” Clarke asked Octavia, frowning, “Because with her father having fought Vold… _He who must not be named_ ” Clarke rolled her eyes with Octavia gave her a look, “Raven should be entering Hogwarts this year, too. Didn’t she say something to…”

“GRIFFIN! BLAKE! LOOK WHAT AN HOWL BROUGHT ME!” Someone ran into the room, screaming.

“There she is” Octavia pointedly looked at Clarke, who laughed.

“My Hogwarts letter!” Raven exclaimed, brandishing the letter bearing Hogwarts’ seal. “What? What is it?” Raven asked, suspicious as why her two best friends were grinning like idiots.

“I don’t know” Octavia innocently shrugged, “I don’t know if you’re ready to take the Hogwarts Express with me.”

“What? What do you….” Raven looked confused for a moment, but slowly her friends could see her eyes getting bigger as she was understanding what Octavia meant.

“You got your letter?”

“Yeah!” Octavia laughed, launching herself into Raven’s arms. After a quick moment of joy, they both looked suddenly guilty.

“Clarke…” Raven started.

“It’s ok” Clarke shrugged them off, “I’ll go to school, like last year. We’ll write letters, we can write letters, right?” Both the others girls nodded, saddened about the thought of leaving Clarke behind.

“Then we’ll write letters. And I’ll see you next summer.”

Having nothing to say to make it better, Octavia and Raven hugged Clarke on both sides. Clarke was happy for their friends, she was; she just wished so damn hard she could be a part of that, too.

“I have to go, I haven’t told Bellamy yet” Octavia said, sighing and squeezing lightly Clarke’s shoulders. “He’s going to be so thrilled.”

The others girls nodded, promising to hang out later in the day, and Octavia took off, lightly jogging to go back to her house, a few houses down the street.

“What did Sinclair said?” Clarke then asked Raven, moving around the kitchen to find something for her friend to eat, “Have you had breakfast yet?”

“He was glad” Raven smiled, “Proud, even, I think. And no, I haven’t had breakfast but…”

Raven couldn’t finish her sentence before a plate of bacon and eggs was put in front of her. She raised a brow at her blonde friend.

“You know Mom always make more food if you were to come over” Clarke only answers, throwing an _eat your plate look_ to Raven.

They started to dig into their breakfast, just enjoying the silent company of the other.

“You know” Raven slowly said, toying with her eggs, “Your mom is trying. You see that, right?”

Clarke sighed, not hungry anymore. “I know, Rae. But I just… Not after…”

“You will have to forgive her at some point” Raven gently added, “She is your _mom_.”

“It is not that simple, and you know it” Clarke answered, gritting her teeth.

“I know you still have nightmares. About him. _Them_.” Raven pushed on; even if Clarke had asked them, thousands of times, not to bring this matter on, now it was a luxury they couldn’t have. Octavia and herself would have to be away for a whole year, and Raven didn’t want to leave Clarke like that.

“Raven, don’t start…” Clarke warned, taking both plates and almost throwing them into the sink.

“I am just saying” Raven brought her hands up in surrender, “We don’t really know what happened with Wells. Or your father.”

“Don’t you dare bring up my father, Raven” Clarke hissed, hitting the table with her palm, then pointing her finger to Raven. “You know _exactly_ what happened. My mother is the reason we know of wizards’ existence, and _this_ got my father killed. Our family was supposed to stay a muggle one.”

“Clarke, listen” Raven held her head high, not wanting to quit the discussion, now that Clarke was finally talking about it, “The wizard world is full of magic, and it _can_ be dangerous, yes; but as any other world, it also full of _secrets_. I’m only saying that maybe we only know what someone more powerful wants us to know.”

Clarke scoffed, not really believing this theory. “Yeah, right. All I’ve ever seen of this world is the death it brings. Maybe wizardry should have died with Vold… _He who must not be named_ , years ago.”

“You don’t mean that” Raven said, getting up, closing herself off. “So when you will have get your head out of your ass, you’ll come see us, your _wizards_ friends. You know, the ones who only bring death. We leave in a week.”

“Raven…” Clarke to hold her back, having realized the harsh words she’d just said had hurt her friends.

But Raven didn’t hear, and left the house at a rapid pace.

Clarke sighed, running a hand through her head. She’d just been a terrible person to raven, who hadn’t asked anything. She knew all Raven and Octavia wanted was to help her move on, but she couldn’t. There were too many questions left unanswered, and it was eating her alive.

Sighing again, Clarke picked up both plates and began to was the dishes. She was not angry at them, because she knew they didn’t ask to be wizards, and it was not their fault she wasn’t one herself. Some people were meant to stay “normal”, and no amount of prayers or angry outbursts would change that.

* * *

Lost in her thoughts, Clarke hadn’t noticed the subtle shift in the air; nor had she payed attention to the birds, having stopped singing. It was only when the living’s room floor cracked that she slightly jumped, finally having noticing something.

Slowly, not wanting to draw attention to herself, she closed the water, drying her hands. Silently, she picked up a cooking knife, and started walking towards the living-room. Clarke could hear them, moving around the room; someone was here.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she jumped into the room, knife held up towards the intruder.

_“Expelliarmus.”_ A deep voice said, and Clarke’s knife went flying into the air, straight into the wall behind her.

Taken by surprise, it takes Clarke a few seconds to think and grab the lamp on the table next to her.

“I am not here to hurt you” The voice said. “You can put that down”.

Clarke really looked at the man standing in front of her; old, with a long white beard and some kind of clothes that were making him look like old mage, or wizards from children books. Wait…

“You are a wizard” Clarke said, not dropping the defensive position she was in.

“I am” The old man nodded.

“What are you doing here?” Clarke asked, eying him and constantly looking around herself.

“Tell me Clarke, did you ever witnessed strange things? Things that couldn’t be possible?”

“Maybe.” Clarke answered the question, not wanting to give anything away.

“I know Octavia and Raven are wizards” The old man smiled.

Clarke was finding the man very disconcerting; he seemed to know a lot about her – had called her by her name – and about her friends, which couldn’t be a good thing; but everything in Clarke was screaming that she could trust him.

“They you know why I could have witnessed some strange things happening” Clarke replied.

The old man chuckled; disconcerting Clarke even more. Walking slowly, he got around the room and sat himself into an old armchair, as if he was into his own home. Clarke suspiciously watched him move; she had a weird feeling down her stomach; a feeling that she knew the guy, or that him being here meant something very important she hadn’t figured out yet. 

“Clarke, do you know about Hogwarts?” He asked, and although Clarke thought about lying for a second, she guessed he probably knew the answer to his question anyways.

“Yeah” She nodded. “The British school of Witchcraft and Wizardry”.

The man nodded, looking pleased with the answer she gave.

“So you know what is that we do, there” he said, looking at her like it was some sort of charade.

“ _We_?” Clarke picked up, “You are in that school?”

“Yes indeed” He smiled again, getting up. “And I hope that I will see you there, soon” He added, getting something out of under his robe, holding it up for Clarke to take.

Slowly, Clarke put down the lamp she was still holding, and took the envelope from his hands, still suspicious with the whole situation.

“Goodbye, Clarke” He smiled at her, going for the door. “I will see you in a week.”

And the next second, he was gone. Clarke shook her head a few seconds, asking herself if it hadn’t been all a dream, and then spotted the letter, still in her hands.

She ran to the door, looking into the street for the man who had vanished only seconds ago. But no one was here.

Perplexed, she got back inside, looking around for any clues to explain how had just happened.

Then again, her eyes stopped on the sealed letter the old man had gave her; wondering a few seconds about whether she should open it or not, she sighed, curiosity winning the best of her.

She recognized the seal immediately: Hogwarts’. She had seen it on Raven and Octavia’s letters, Bellamy’s, Octavia’s older brother, too.

With hands shaking a little, she opened the envelope, getting papers out of it. There it was: a Hogwarts Express Ticket. Could it mean…?

She hastily opened the letter, starting to read it with big opened eyes. 


	2. The old man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke has received her acceptance letter and tells her friends.

** A Hogwarts story, chapter 2 : The Old Man **

Clarke was sitting still at the living-room table, still not believing what she had just read. Her acceptance letter. To Hogwarts. How could that be possible? She was a muggle. A _non-magical_ human being. Like her father, and her mother, and their parents before them. How could it be?

She didn’t have time to think about it further, because Octavia was entering the house, already talking when she was still at the other end of the house.

“Clarkey, Raven told me you two got into a fight and I….” Octavia stopped in front of Clarke, still a bit shocked and not moving from her spot. “Clarke? You’re ok? What happened?”

Without saying a word, Clarke slid her acceptance letter to Octavia, letting her brunette friend find out by herself. Intrigued, Octavia took it, slowly starting to read it. She, too, had recognized Hogwarts’ seal, and this specific letter; after all, she had received one herself, earlier today.

“What does that mean?” Octavia murmured, as surprised as Clarke.

“I don’t know, O” Clarke helplessly shrugged, “An old man was here, a few minutes ago, started talking to me about Hogwarts and…”

“Wait, what?” Octavia frowned, “An old man? Here, in the house?”

“Yeah” Clarke sighed, “Big long white beard, dressed like Merlin the Enchanter, and…”

“Wait stop” Octavia cut her, “Could you draw him? Sketch him?”

“yeah I suppose” Clarke said, “But I don’t see how…”

“Just do it, please” Octavia asked, “I’m going to call Raven.”

Clarke sighed, getting up to find some paper and a pen to draw with. She started to try to sketch him, having no real troubles as she was still having his picture vividly in her head. In the corridor, Octavia seemed to be animatedly talking with Raven on the phone. Clarke couldn’t understand why drawing the man seemed to matter so much to Octavia, and yet had a feeling it was really important.

After a few minutes, Raven was entering the house again, still wearing a light scowl after Clarke’s behavior earlier this morning. While Clarke was sketching, Octavia gave her letter for Raven to read.

As Octavia a few minutes before, Raven was intrigued by the letter; Clarke was a muggle. How did she receive an acceptance letter to Hogwarts? No muggles had even been accepted to the school.

“There” Clarke said, having finished her drawing of the intruder, and turning it over so her friends could see it.

“Holy shit Clarke” Raven whistled, taking the sketch in her hands.

“What?” Clarke asked, frowning at Raven’s behavior.

“That’s not any old man, Clarke” Octavia murmured, “That’s Dumbledore. Hogwarts’ headmaster.”

“What...?” Clarke stared at the sketched portrait, not believing it. She had heard all about Dumbledore, of course, as he was the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts had ever had; according to Raven and Octavia. But what did it had to do with her, a muggle?

“Does he ever come to give students their letters?” Clarke asked, watched the awed faces of her friends.

“When a wizard, muggle-born, receive their letter, a member of the school is often sent with it to explain everything to the becoming student and their parents. But it is rarely professors that come, and never, _never_ , Dumbledore himself.” Octavia explained, fumbling into her pockets looking for her phone she probably had lost somewhere again. “Fuckin’ phone…” She mumbled.

“This is huge, Clarke” Raven seriously said, “It has to mean something”.

Clarke looked at her friend, lost and confused. Why would the headmaster come in person for someone like her? What was they missing?

“I texted Bellamy. He’s going to come over” Octavia informed them, taking the letter and reading it again. “It is definitely a real one, no doubt about that.”

Clarke sighed, not understanding a single thing about all this, and moved through the kitchen to make some coffee for everyone. They would need it.

* * *

A few minutes later, Bellamy was coming into the kitchen, a bit breathless, probably having ran the distance between their houses.

“So, our Griffin is a wizard after all?” he joked, sending a wink to Clarke.

Clarke escaped the tiniest smile, not really sure if she should be happy about it. It had been her dream, it _was_ her dream to go into Hogwarts, but it has always been an impossible dream, the kind of dreams you know you’ll never get to realize. And then all of the sudden, her dream was coming true? That couldn’t be. Even if wizards could be born of muggles parents, there always was a matter of genetics, a wizard in the family, even from three generations ago. Clarke’s entire family was muggle; surely her mother, who knew about wizards, wouldn’t have hidden something like this from her, right?

“so Clarke, which house?” Bellamy smirked, sipping his coffee, having read the letter and reached the same conclusion as her sister and his friends; Clarke was indeed going to start in Hogwarts next semester.

“What?” Clarke asked, still lost in her thoughts.

“Which house you think you’ll be in? Ravenclaw? Although you could be in Hufflepuff…” He wondered at loud, before his grin turned into something looking more like mischief. “Or maybe you’ll be Griffin….Dor! ahahaha!”

He laughed, as Clarke was finding the joke not funny at all. But soon, Octavia and Raven were laughing, too, and she couldn’t resist joining them.

“O, we’ve promised to go help Mrs. Figg with her garden” Bellamy sighed looking at his watch, “You know she gets when her stupid cats dig holes in the grass”.

Octavia sighed too, well remembering the last time the old woman had spent an entire afternoon screaming in the streets that her cats couldn’t play in the garden if there were holes in them. The siblings left, waving goodbye at Clarke and Raven, who were left alone.

“Raven, listen…” Clarke started, but Raven cut her.

“It’s ok, Clarke” Raven tried to shrug it off, but Clarke didn’t let her.

“No, listen” Clarke said, trying to father the confidence she needed to apologize properly to her friend. “I was an ass to you, and I am sorry. I know you and O mean well, I’m just… A bit lost with everything, you know?” Clarke continued, “But it was not fair of me to take it out on you. I’m sorry Rae.”

“I know, silly” Raven smiled, getting around the table to hug her friend. “Good thing is; you’re going to leave with us on the Hogwarts’ Express in a week” Raven smirked.

“Yeah, that” Clarke nodded, still not really convinced it was true. “How the hell am I going to announce that to my mother?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the typos my work could have, english is not my first langage ;) Feel free to leave a comment and tell me if I should continue this!


	3. Neighbourdhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke tells her mom about her acceptance letter. Abby meets someone to voice her thoughts. Clarke and her friends talk about their neighbourhood and about going shopping.

Chapter 3 : Neighbourood

Clarke was in the kitchen, reading her acceptance letter once again, having read it at least a hundred times today. Every couple of minutes, she would look at the clock, waiting for her mother to come home from the hospital.

She had so many questions, but the first and biggest of them was, of course, how was this even possible. Clarke didn't know of any wizards in her family for at least the three generations before her; and Bellamy had been clear about it, every wizard to be had at least once ancestor having magical blood in their veins. So it was only leaving Clarke with two logical theories : the first one being having a wizard ancestor she didn't know of, and the second one… Well, Clarke didn't like her second theory. The letter _was_ , after all, addressed to _her_ , right? For wizards, it would kind of be a shame if they had given the wrong letter to the wrong person.

Finally, Clarke heard the door's lock click; her mother was home.

"Hey honey" Abby said, dropping her stuff in the corridor and getting her coat off, "How was your day?"

"Oh, nothing to tell really" Clarke started, watching her mother remove her shoes, "Dumbledore came over, we chatted a little, he gave me a letter and he went back to Hogwarts. At least, I think."

Her mother stilled her mouvements. "What did you say?" She frowned, scared that she had understood her daughter's words correctly.

"Dumbledore was here, this morning" Clarke repeated, swallowing as Abby was walking up to her, a deep frown on her face. "He gave me a letter. _My_ letter."

"This is impossible…" Abby murmured, almost as if she was talking to herself. She took the letter from Clarke's hands, reading it and turning it over a few times to check the authenticity. "I thought…"

"I thought we didn't have any wizards in the family" Clarke said, trying to see if her mother was surprised about the new information.

"We... We don't" Abby frowned again, lost in her thoughts.

"Then why? Why would I ever receive a Hogwarts letter to attend the school, Mom?" Clarke asked, feeling a little stressed out by the whole situation.

"I don't know" Abby murmured again. "That shouldn't be possible."

Clarke frowned, seeing her mother so deep lost in her thoughts. What was she thinking about?

"Mom" Clarke said, trying to regain her mother's attention. "Mom!" She said again when Abby didn't react the first time.

"Yes, Clarke?" Abby finally answered, a... hollowed look, on her face? Clarke had not seen this look very often, and the last time her mother reacted like this was after her father's death. This couldn't be good, right?

"So, I can go?"

Abby frowned. "Go where?"

"To Hogwarts, Mom. School starts in a week. This letter means I can go, right?"

"Yes it does" Abby nodded, still looking a bit troubled.

Clarke was trying really hard to not jump everywhere to express her excitement.

"I have to go back to work" Abby then said, putting her shoes back on.

"But you just got here..?" Clarke frowned.

"I... I forgot something" Her mother answered. "Don't wait for me to eat dinner, alright?"

Clarke just nodded, watching her mother leave. Why was she acting all weird like this? Was this because she never thought her daughter could be a wizard? Or maybe she was have trouble accepting Clarke was not a muggle like her, but was a wizard like all her patients at the hospital? Or maybe Dumbledore had told Clarke to come because she knew about the Wizard World and he wanted to erase her memory; Bellamy had told them about spell like that, once. She shook her head, trying to regain control of her thoughts.

"Come on Clarke" she whispered to herself, "Don't be paranoïd". But still… Could they want to erase her memory?

* * *

Abby sighed, closing her office's door. Feeling tired and sensing a headache creeping its way under her skull, she massaged her temples, thinking about the letter Clarke had received today. It couldn't be possible. It _shouldn't_ be possible. She had made sure of that. 

Then, a woosh and a light breath of air was sweeping into the room. Abby sighed again, full knowing who it was. 

"Jaha" Abby said, turning around so she was facing him. 

"Hello, Abby" He greeted her. "I felt like you wanted to see me". 

"i do" Abby nodded, not looking very pleased with the man. "Clarke received her acceptance letter this morning."

"I know" The man said. 

"You _know ? "_ Abby said, "If you know, then you also know she was never supposed to go to the school !"

"Things changed, Abby" Jaha sighed, taking a seat in the chair in front of Abby's desk. "He has this feeling, that things are changing, and that something... Or someone, is coming. Trouble times ahead". 

"By _he_ you mean Dumbledore" Abby scoffed, crossing her arms on her chest. 

"Yes. He was the one who gave your daughter her letter". 

"I know" Abby scoffed again. 

"Listen, Abby" Jaha said, taking a deep breath to calm them both. "I know the risks we take in accepting Clarke into Hogwarts. But she has no idea of what she is" Jaha added. "It could do more harm than good, keeping her away from this. And franckly" He leaned back on the armchair, "We might need her."

"She was supposed to be protected from all of this." Abby said, trying hard not to break down. 

"I know" Jaha nodded, his heart beginning to hurt again. "They all were supposed to be protected. But they can't escape their legacies anymore."

"So, the boy, Lily and James' son, is going?" Abby asked. 

"Yes. The girl, too". Jaha gravely confirmed. 

They stayed in silence, pondering about the responsabilities their children had or would have to carry because of their past mistakes. 

* * *

"So your mother wasn't freaked out about it?" Raven asked her friend, steering potatoes into the stove. 

"No" Clarke shrugged, "I don't know really, she said it was impossible, she was suprised about it but I don't know, she was acting like it shouldn't have happened?" Clarke shook her head, taking plates out of a cupboard, "I don't understand her sometimes."

Raven hummed ; she, too, was finding Abby's reaction slightly weird. 

Bellamy and Octavia came into the house, covered in dirt as they had spent all afternoon in Mrs Figg's garden. 

"Wash your hands, you filthy wizards!" Raven yelled at them when both of them tried to pick some food from the stove. 

The siblings laughed, pushing each other to gain access to the sink. Clarke smiled watching them; even though she didn't have any siblings of her own, Raven, Octavia and Bellamy were kind of family to her. They were here for each other, and that was all that mattered. There was the rest of the gang, of course, but everyone else had at least one parent still present, so it was a bit different. 

"Oh, we saw this boy again" Octavia told her friends, "You know, Dursleys' nephew. I think he was supposed to stay at Mrs Figg's house as a punishment? And she told me they were going to live in some kinf of lighthouse..?"

"Those folks are weird, I tell you that" Raven said, serving food to everyone. "We never see him around. it's like he's living in a prison or something. The only child out of the house is big Dudley."

"I hope he never hears you call him that" Clarke chuckled. 

"Well, I don't really care" Raven shrugged, "All he would do would be running to Mister Dursley, and that man is a coward". 

"Raven, don't start a war with our neighbors" Bellamy tried to reprimand her, except the smirk on his lips was taking all the serious away. 

"I am just saying, I don't think I have ever seen the boy's face" Raven threw her hands up, playing innocent, "Maybe he's a cool kid."

"That, we will never know" Octavia said, rushing to grab the salt and pepper before Bellamy could help himself, "One thing is certain.... We need to go shopping!"

"Oh yeah, Diagon alley! Finally time for you to see it, Clarke!" Bellamy excitedly said, "You'll like it."

"I only went there once, and that was sooooo cool!" Raven added, already hyped by it. 

"We'll see about that tomorrow" Clarke laughed as Octavia was throwing daggers with her eyes at her brother who wouldn't want to pass her the bottle of water. "Eat, children."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, feel free to leave a comment and tell me if I should go on with this story! ;)


	4. Going Shopping part.1 : The Wand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and co go to Diagon Alley to get her ready for her first year at Hogwarts. Their first stop is Ollivander's shop, the wand seller.

Chapter 4 : going shopping part 1 : The Wand

A few days later, Clarke was sitting in the kitchen, sipping her tea while waiting for her mother to come downstairs after her shower, having covered the nightshift at the hospital.

Her friends had decided they would go to Diagon Alley today, to buy all the furnitures Clarke would need to start in Hogwarts. They already had all they needed, perks of already knowing they were wizards before receiving their letters, but they were overjoyed at the prospect of bringing Clarke into a world they were sure she would never see.

Clarke still didn’t really know how her mother was feeling about all this, as they hadn’t talked about it since the day Clarke received her letter. Was she even going to let Clarke go?

“Hi Clarke” Abby said, drying her hair with a towel.

“Hi” Clarke answered, building up the courage to bring up the touchy subject. “So, I’m going to Diagon alley today, with Raven and Octavia”.

“Diagon Alley? Why would you… Oh, your furnitures! I completely forgot!” Abby first seemed confused, then to remember why Clarke would have to go to Diagon Alley. “Here, take this” Abby said.

She went rummaging through the drawer underneath the kitchen table – Clarke didn’t even know there had been a drawer here, all this time! – and got out a little leather pouch, handing it to Clarke.

“What is this…?” Clarke asked, taking out a coin out of the bag.

“Wizard money, Clarke” Her mother said, as if it was logical.

“And why do you even have wizard money, Mom?” Clarke responded, inspecting the coin and turning it around in her fingers.

“I treat wizard patients, Clarke. All my bosses are wizards; they kind of pay me with wizard gold” Abby chuckled, amused at Clarke’s surprised and confused expressions.

“And how do we pay for taxes and food, with _this_?” Clarke asked again, getting more and more confused.

“I also earn _muggle_ money” Abby winked at her, before reaching for Clarke’s plate and stealing a pancake. “Have a good day!”

And her mother was off the house, leaving for work.

Clarke sighed; her days were definitely growing more and more weirder.

* * *

The group entered Diagon Alley, Clarke coughing with all the dust around. When she finally opened her eyes, she was met by Octavia and Raven with smirks so big it reached their ears on both sides.

“Not cool making fun of someone who uses _Floo powder_ for the first time” Clarke mumbled, trying to reorient herself in the new – and magical – environment.

“Don’t worry Princess” Bellamy chuckled, “You did fine. Octavia here” He said, pointing to his sister, “Made her big entrance falling on her _ass_ the first time she got here”.

That was all it took to bring a smile back on Clarke’s face, as Octavia protested.

“Hey, not fair! I was _four_!”

They all laughed, starting to walk into the alley, as Octavia was mumbling what probably was death wishes on her brother.

“So, we obviously need to start by… The wand!” Raven excitedly said, pushing the door of an old shop.

“Ollivander’s shop” Octavia explained to Clarke, “The best wand maker in the whole continent. Probably the best ever, actually”.

They entered the shop; they were not ready for what they were now seeing.

“What the fuck happened here?” Octavia murmured, watching around. Boxes were scattered all around the room, as it looked like someone had just had an outburst and punched half of the shop’s shelves.

In the middle, a man was mumbling to himself, picking up boxes and placing them back on shelves.

“That’s Ollivander” Raven whispered to Clarke, who recognized the man’s face in some newspapers the Blakes had at their houses. With _moving_ pictures and stuff.

Bellamy got down, picking up boxes and wands out of the floor, putting them onto a moving cart.

“What happened?” Bellamy asked, helping the man put everything back in order. But Ollivander didn’t seem to notice their presence, even less hear the question Bellamy had asked.

“Mister Ollivander, what happened here?” Bellamy asked again, a little louder this time.

“Only two of these” He mumbled, “Linked by a death spell… Oh, it’s you Blakes” he suddenly seemed to notice they were standing right in front of him, “And Miss Reyes, of course. But who is this young lady? I don’t think we’ve met yet.” He told Clarke, eyes filled with what Clarke thought was curiousity.

“I’m Clarke” She introduced herself. “Clarke Griffin.”

“A Griffin” He seemed to pale a little, “Of course…”

Clarke threw a questioning look at her friends, who only shrugged. Raven had always find the man to be weird, anyways.

“I guess you are here for a wand, dear” He said, rummaging once again through all his boxes. “Try this one.”

Clarke looked at her friends again, not knowing what she should do.

“Take it in your hand” Octavia encouraged her, “See if you feel something”.

“How am I supposed to feel something?” Clarke frowned, taking the wand in her hand.

“You see, Miss Griffin” Ollivander said, an intriguing smile on his lips, “The wand chooses the wizard. It will tell you, if you are the one for it”.

“Ollivander here is quite gifted to match wands and wizards” Bellamy explained, throwing a smile to the man, “And once he suggests a wand, the wand decides if it agrees with him. Or not.”

“Well, I was right about yours, Bellamy Blake” Ollivander said, ordering boxes on the shelves once again, “first try was the right one. Red oak, right?”

“Indeed” Bellamy approved, remembering when Ollivander had sold it to him.

“Nothing is happening” Clarke frowned, putting down the wand. She was disappointed; she was beginning to think that all of this was a mistake; holding a wand was just like holding a simple stick of wood and really, there was absolutely no proof she _was_ a wizard, except the acceptance letter she had received. And this was not proof enough.

“No, not the right one” Ollivander mumbled, getting another box. “Try this one instead” he said, holding up another wand to Clarke.

Clarke took it, but then again, nothing happened. Her friends, too, were disappointed; even if Clarke had received her letter, they, too, had doubts about Clarke being a wizard. It’s not like she had done magic before…

“I didn’t want to assume again…” Ollivander murmured for himself, “But I guess…”

He stopped mid-sentence, getting up on one of the shop’s ladder to access the highest shelves on his shop. He got what seemed to be an old box, probably untouched for some time so much there was dust on it.

“There’s very few of these produced. Only two in the last hundred years. Apple Wood” He murmured, opening the box and putting it in front of Clarke. “I wonder if…”

Then, he gestured for Clarke to take the wand; the blonde was beginning to wonder if the man wasn’t crazy after all.

Clarke reached for the wand… And she felt it. Power. Greatness, running through all her veins. As if the wand was talking to her, merging with her body and soul. As if they were a whole, never to be without each other again; as if they had created their own way of communicating, without having to talk. Clarke had never felt something like this; and now, she had no trouble understanding why a wand was so precious to its wizard. She knew it; great things were going to happen. 

“I guess that answered our questions” Ollivander whispered, nodding to himself. “Trouble times are ahead.”

Then, he got back to his scattered boxes and forgetting about their presence in the shop.

“Well, we better go” Raven said, ushering them outside.

“That was weird” Octavia sighted, once they were out of the house. Clarke could only approve; what had just happened? And why the shop had been messy, when they got here? He seemed so lost in his thoughts, but yet seemed to know things they had no ideas of. And what had he meant, telling them trouble were ahead?

They walked in silence for a bit, before someone caught Bellamy's eyes. 

“Oh, look” he pointed to them, “That’s Hagrid, Hogwarts’ keys keeper”.

“Key keeper?” Clarke frowned, “What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know” Bellamy shrugged, “He used to be a wizard but was expelled of Hogwarts at some point. Dumbledore took him in, and now he takes care of the lands, and the creatures and everything, I guess” Bellamy explained. "He's a great guy."

“He’s… Huge” Clarke observed, as they were walking a few feet behind him and a small boy he seemed to guide through the streets.

“Half-giant” Raven told her.

Well, that explained a lot, Clarke thought.

“Come on” Octavia tugged her friend by the sleeve, “We need to get your books now”.


	5. Going shopping part.2 : Aska

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and co continue their shopping into Diagon Alley. They meet some readheads, and Clarke makes a new friend.

Chapter 5 : Going shopping part. 2 : Aska

Clarke and her friends were just getting out of the books’ shop, having bought every book Clarke would need for her first years, plus some extra books she wanted to read.

“I don’t know why you would want to buy that many books, Griffin” Raven sighed, “I know there’s a lot of things you don’t know about Hogwarts, but still, doesn’t mean you have to know _everything_ there is to know about magic” Raven grimaced, thinking about reading that much books.

“Just because you don’t like to read doesn’t mean it’s a dumb thing to do” Octavia raised a brow at her friend.

“I _do_ read! But for more interesting subjects” Raven shrugged.

“What could be more interesting than…” Octavia started, only to be cut off by Bellamy, gesturing to someone, a little bit ahead of them.

“Look like this girl loves to read and bought every book Clarke didn’t get her hands on” He joked, watching as a tiny girl was walking down the street, arms full of books. Two adults around her seemed to carry as many books as she did; it was a funny sight.

“Stop being idiots” Clarke lightly scoffed at them, “Not everyone gets to be born knowing they are wizards. Some on us actually needs to _learn_ about it. Maybe she’s a muggle, too.”

“if she is, then it’s she’s only a first year, starting this year” Bellamy hummed, “I have never seen her in Hogwarts before.”

“Blake!” Someone shouted from across Diagon Alley, widely gesturing to Bellamy.

Bellamy grinned at the young redhead that had called him. “Fred, hi. Where’s your brother?”

“Which one?” Fred answered, looking annoyed. “I’ve got four of them.”

“I only know the one who looks like you” Bellamy chuckled, amused.

“Ah, this one” Fred rolled his eyes, “He went with Ron to get some books. Ours are too old to be used.”

Bellamy nodded, and only then remembered he was not alone.

“Fred, this is my sister Octavia” He introduced her, “and our friends, Clarke and Raven. They all start this year.”

“Hum, fresh blood!” Fred smiled, “Ron is starting this year as well. Maybe they’ll all get sorted into Gryffindor.”

“You wish” Bellamy snorted, “My sister will be Slytherin. As her brother.”

“We will see about that, Blake” Fred narrowed his eyes at him, before being called by a woman a few feet away from them. “I’ll see you at school.”

Bellamy nodded, waving goodbye at the boy.

Clarke, Octavia and Raven had curiously witnessed the whole exchange.

“Who is he?” Clarke asked as they started walking again.

“Fred Weasley” Bellamy answered, “Him and his twin brother, Georges, are both in Hogwarts. All Weasleys are redhaired, with freckles. They have two older brothers, who also went to Hogwarts. All four of them are Gryffindor.”

“So, does the sorting hat always sorts family members into the same house?” Clarke asked.

“Not necessarily” Bellamy answered, “But usually, family members share common traits. But if Octavia was to be sorted in Slytherin, it would primarily be because she’d have Slytherin traits, which I happened to have, too.” He thought about his answer, trying to explain it as best as he could.

“I see” Clarke nodded, having understood the essential of it.

* * *

Clarke was letting her eyes wander around as they were walking into Diagon Alley. Everything here was magical; and even though Clarke had always known about the Wizard World, it was a whole different thing to see it with her own eyes.

“So, I guess we have everything I need” Clarke finally said, figuring it was time to go back home.

“Not everything” Bellamy smirked, leading them to another shop. “You still need one more _thing._ ”

“Why does it sound like a bad idea?” Clarke frowned, finding Bellamy’s behavior a bit odd.

“because it _is_ a bad idea” Octavia sighed, having recognized the shop. “Come on” She pushed her friends inside.

For the second time that day, Clarke was not ready for what she discovered. A pet shop. But not the ones she was used to. Toads, rats, owls of all sorts and colors, cats… _cats?_

“You can bring a pet into Hogwarts” Bellamy explained. “Remember I had an owl, first year, but then he died end of second hear and I didn’t want another one. Octavia have Marge, and…”

“Wait, _Marge?_ ” Clarke asked, frowning as she was trying to remember where she had already heard the name. “Marge, that’s the bird who used to steal cherries out of my tree!”

“Yup” Octavia said, trying to look innocent.

“So that’s _your_ pet?” Clarke asked, still frowning. “Why would you not tell me?”

“Because last time you saw her, you threatened to shoot her down with your toy crossbow” Octavia stuck her tongue at her friend.

“Behave, children” Raven exaggeratedly rolled her eyes. “So Clarke, what do you want? I feel like you wouldn’t want something too common…” The Latina mumbled to herself, already having disappeared between the store shelves.

Clarke sighed, starting to get curious about the different creatures all around the place. What could she want? Clarke actually didn’t even know if she wanted a pet. She knew all about Bellamy’s owl, and how solid their bond had been; she wondered if an animal, or any creature, could have that bond with her.

But then, she felt something. Something pulling at her, _calling_ her from deep inside herself. Curious, Clarke went at the other end of the shop, following whatever seemed to tug at her, without any logical explanations.

“Clarke?” Bellamy asked, watching her suddenly move.

But Clarke didn’t hear him; she was driven by some kind of force she couldn’t explain, but she needed to get there. Wherever it may be.

She took a turn after the last set of shelves, and it struck her; what had been calling her was sitting right in front of her in a metallic cage. She couldn’t move; she was mesmerized by it, as it was looking right into her eyes, touching her very bare soul.

“Clarke, what are you…” Bellamy came rushing after Clarke, to stop in his track. “Oh.”

Clarke didn’t speak. In front of her, a majestic creature was laying down, watching her with bright yellow eyes. It kind of looked like a dog, a young one, probably not more than a few months old. But there was something about it, something out of the ordinary but yet invisible to the eye.

“He’s been calling you, hasn’t he” The shop seller suddenly appeared, a knowing smile on his lips.

Clarke only nodded, not taking her eyes out of the animal.

“His name is Aska.”

“You chose it?” Bellamy asked, frowning at the weird name.

“No” The seller chuckled, as if Bellamy wasn’t making any sense, “He told me.”

Raven and Octavia had just rejoined them, and as Bellamy, they were a bit uneasy with the current atmosphere.

“Clarke, what’s happening?” Octavia murmured, trying to shake her friend out of the state she seemed blocked into.

“I want him.” Clarke finally nodded to herself. She had a feeling, which was settling deep down in her body; Aska wanted her, too.

“I know” The seller smiled again, taking a little envelope from under his desk and passing it to Clarke. Then, he got around them, opening the lock of the cage.

The puppy didn’t move as Raven, Octavia and Bellamy expected him to do; instead, he was just looking at Clarke, as if he was waiting for her to say something.

Then, Clarke hold up her hand. He sniffed it, gently licked the end of her fingers, making her giggle. Then Aska barked, probably satisfied with himself.

“Come on then” Clarke told her, and he jumped out of his cage, to immediately come sit at Clarke’s feet.

The seller was looking at the two of them as if he was knowing something the rest of the group ignored.

“He will be a loyal friend, Clarke Griffin” The seller said, looking at Aska a last time. “You two have a lot in common”. He shook his head as Clarke was asking for how many she owed him, and he refused the money Clarke wanted to give him.

“It was said that Aska would not be bought” The seller simply said, strictly refusing Clarke’s money, “But only that he would go with someone he recognized.”

They all frowned at those words, but they didn’t have the opportunity as the seller was taking his leave, going to take care of others customers.

* * *

The four of them, Aska on Clarke’s toes, found themselves out of the shop, none of them having understood what had just happened.

“Well, that was weird” Bellamy sighed. “And believe me, I have seen my fair share of weird things in the world”.

“He knew your last name” Octavia added, “We never said your last name in there. And _someone he could recognize_? The man is going crazy I’m afraid”.

Aska quietly barked, as if he agreed with the siblings. Clarke chuckled as they were all looking at the pair of them, still not sure about how they had got themselves into this situation, a puppy in the mix.

“I don’t want to break your fun, Clarke” Raven said, “But how the hell are you going to explain all this to Abby?”


	6. Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke talks with her mother and learns more about Hogwarts. They don't miss their train and the group is off to Hogwarts. Also, what the fu*** is a Harry Potter?

Chapter 6 : Hogwarts Express

In a whoosh, Clarke was back into the Blakes' house, dusting off her clothes, once again covered in dust. Aska barked, sneezing, and almost fell back, being surprised by it.

"God, this year is going to be so much fun with him around" Octavia chuckled, watching as Aska was trying to lick the dust out of his nose. 

"Wait until I explain it to my mother" Clarke sighed, using her sleeve to wipe out her dog's nose. Aska happily licked her fingers, making Clarke chuckle at his behavior once again. 

"Sinclair is going to take me to King Cross in a few days" Raven told them, "We can give all of you a ride, if you want". 

Bellamy and Octavia accepted; Bellamy was still too young for a driver licence and well, there wasn't anyone around them to bring them. A ride with Sinclair would be so much better than all those years having to take the muggle bus with his truck and owl in its cage. 

"I'll talk to my mom" Clarke answered, "She probably will have to work anyways, so it'll probably be ok to ride with you". 

Raven and Clarke said goodbye to the Blakes, starting walking towards Clarke's house as Raven was helping her carry all her stuff. 

"Man, I forgot how heavy couldrons were" Raven groaned, feeling her arms ache under the weight of it. 

"Those books are heavy too" Clarke huffed, "What the hell was I thinking, buying.." Clarke stopped mid-sentence, as she spotted her mother on the doorstep, frowning at the sight of the two girls and the... _dog?_

"Clarke, you're back" Abby said, and then eyed suspiciously at the animal. "And who's this?"

"His name is Aska" Clarke said, and Aska barked in confirmation. 

"You let _them"_ she sighed, looking at Raven trying to look annoyed, "Bring you into the Magical Menagerie." 

Raven hold up her hands "Not my doing!" She denied, "Clarke chose on her own". 

"Why are you betraying me like that? It's your fault I even _entered_ the shop" Clarke hissed at her friend. 

But Aska seemed to not care much about the girls' banter, so he trotted up to Abby, sniffing her around, before sitting next to her, barking to get Clarke's attention once again. 

"Ok, that's my cue to leave" Clarke chuckled as Abby was taking Clarke's stuff from Raven's arms and carrying everything inside. 

"Bye Raven, I'll see you tomorrow?" Clarke asked her friend, starting to get a bit anxious to find herself alone with her mother. 

"Yeah" Raven nodded, offering a supporting smile to her friend. "Call me if you need anything, alright?"

Clarke nodded, waving her goodbye and getting back into the house, Aska once again on her heels. 

* * *

"So, how was Diagon Alley?" Abby asked, while she was putting some protective covers on Clarke's books. 

"How did you even know about Magical Menagerie?" Clarke frowned, suddenly remembering her mother mentioning the shop's name. 

"I went there a few times" Abby pensively said, gesturing to Clarke to give her another book to cover. 

"but _how ?_ " Clarke asked again, "I thought muggles couldn't go there." 

"I had my ways" Abby smiled, opening the book she was covering and writing Clarke's name down. 

"Mom, you don't have to write down my name in all my books" Clarke rolled her eyes, taking the book from Abby's hands and opening it briefly. " _Magical theory_ " Clarke read out loud, "By Adalbert Waffling."

"Very famous wizard" Her mother hummed, "He basically wrote everything there was to know about magic. Died in the Wizarding War, I think". 

"How could you possibly know _that_ ?" Clarke said again, a bit upset about her mother's apparent knowledge of the Wizard World; enough knowledge to know about her books' writers anyways. 

"I read books, Clarke" Her mother gently smiled, sensing her daughter was getting upset about the situation. "I treat wizards. I know about their world". 

Clarke scoffed. Since she had received her letter, she had this feeling like something was off, and she couldn't put her finger on it. 

"What do you want to know?" Abby asked, running a hand up and down Clarke's back trying to calm her down, sitting next to her. 

"What can you tell me about Hogwarts?" Clarke wondered, looking at Hogwarts' picture in _A history of magic._

"Well" Abby thought about it, "It was founded around the 10th century I think, by the minister of magic. It's the british Wizardry school".

"The _british_ ?" Clarke frowned, "There're more magic schools?"

"Of course" Her mother nodded, "I know of at least three others. One in France, one in Scandinavia and one in the US."

"Wow" Clarke said, "So this _is_ worldwide". 

"Yes" Abby chuckled, "Did you think wizards only existed in England?"

"Well I don't know" Clarke shrugged, "I never really thought about it. What about the Headmaster, Dumbledore?"

"Some say he's one of the greatest wizards of all times" Her mother answered, and Clarke had a feeling her mother quite agreed with this, "He was a Hogwarts student, Gryffindor I think. he fought against Grindewald, a wizard using dark magic in 1945, and is famous for it. I think he worked on dragon's blood, too, made some significant discoveries."

"He sounds like someone important" Clarke noticed. 

"Well, he is" Her mother confirmed. "They wanted him as minister of magic, but he always refused. He was a teacher at Hogwarts at some point, before becoming Headmaster."

They fell back into a comfortable silence. Clarke was watching her cover her books, when her eyes spotted something. 

"Wait" Clarke said, taking one book out of the pile. " _Fantastic beast and where to find them_ , Newt Scamander" Clarke read. 

"Hogwarts student too, this one" Abby said, "Although I think he went to the USA, after school. He's famous for all his work on magical creatures". 

Clarke hummed. She then looked at Aska, laying at her feet. She went through the pages, searching for a clue or some informations about Aska's species. Not that she knew what it was, anyways. But Bellamy had told her, after buying - well, taking - him, that if Aska had found himself in this shop, then there was something magical about it. And franckly, Clarke didn't have trouble believing it; his glowing yellow eyes were proof enough that he wasn't any regular dog. 

Abby watched as her daughter was trying to look for answers about her new companion. "So tell me about Aska" She asked. 

And Clarke went on, relating to her mother how she had come to bring him home. After she was done, Abby gently smiled at her. 

"At least you'll have someone by your side at all times, looking after you, when you'll be in Hogwarts" Abby told her. 

Clarke closed her book, putting it back on the pile. "So you're ok with me going?" 

"Well, I'm not _ok_ " Abby truthfully said, "Because you'll be far from me for a whole year, and the six ones after that." Clarke chuckled, not having really thought about this. 

"But you are a wizard Clarke" Abby offered her a small smile, "Hogwarts is where you belong."

"Thanks, Mom" Clarke murmured, not expecting her mother to be nice about it and suddenly being glad she _had_ a mother. 

"Come on" Abby gestured at her, smiling once again, "Put your robes on, so we can see if it needs to be adjusted."

* * *

A few days later, Clarke's heart was furiously beating into her chest, standing between platform nine and ten in King Cross' Station. 

"Just go straight ahead Clarke" Bellamy encouraged her, getting ready to go through the wall with Octavia, helping her with her trolley. "Don't hesitate!"

And the siblings started running straight into the wall, disappearing a moment after. 

"Well, now or never I guess" Raven mumbled, who, like Clarke, wasn't really overjoyed about having to run into a _wall_. 

"Oh look" Clarke pointed to Raven, "That's Fred Weasley, the boy Bellamy was talking to in Diagon Alley. Wait... There's two of them?" Clarke frowned, seeing double. 

"Yeah, remember how Bell said he had a twin brother. Man, they really are redhaired with freckles" Raven chuckled, watching all the Weasleys family enter King Cross' Station. "Wait, is that...? No, never mind" Raven shook her head, having thought for a second the silhouette of the young boy talking to the Weasleys being the Dursleys' nephew. But she had never seen his face, so he could be anyone really. 

"Come on" Clarke said as much for herself that for Raven and gesturing for Aska to get onto the trolley. "Time to go. On three?"

"On three" Raven nodded, tightening her hold on her trolley. 

"One, two... Three!" Both girls counted, then running into the wall, expecting to crash against it and... They blinked. They had gone through the wall ! 

Bellamy and Octavia were grinning at them, watching them as their eyes were wandering everywhere, taking sight of the 9 3/4 platform. 

"Wow" Raven whistled, "Wizards' train station are waaay better than muggles' ones". Clarke hummed; she could only approuve. 

Bellamy help them put their trunks into an empty wagon, and then looked at his sister one last time. 

"I need to go with the other fourth years" Bellamy said, "You'll be fine, right?"

Octavia chuckled. "Yes big brother, I'll be fine. I don't need you as my _nanny_ " Octavia waved him off. 

"Alright, alright" He smiled back. "Once we'll be in Hogsmeade's station, Hagrid will be taking all the first years to Hogwarts. I'll see you in the common room for the sorting ceremony."

"We know, Bell" Octavia rolled her eyes. 

"Alright" He raised his hands up, surrendering. "See you later."

He started walking off, but Octavia suddenly remembered something. 

"Wait, Bellamy!" She got up, keeping her brother from leaving. "What if I'm not sorted into Slytherin?" She asked, worried to disappoint her brother. 

"Then it's because you are not meant to be a Slytherin" He smiled, reassuring her. "I'm sure the sorting hat will put all of you in the houses which fit you best. It doesn't matter if you're not in Slytherin as me, O" He added, a fond smile on his lips, "The important thing is that you end up where you belong." 

"Thanks, Bell" Octavia murmured, hugging her brother. 

"Be good, you two" he hugged her sister back, sending a wink to Clarke and Raven. And he was off to the fourth years' wagons. 

* * *

On the platform, a brunette girl was adjusting her owl's cage onto her trolley, getting ready to get on the train. Her tutor was standing tall and his back straight, watching children say goodbye to their parents and getting on. 

"You will write to me every two weeks" The man stated, adressing the young girl. "You will study hard, and you will not get distracted by anything which is not study-related."

"Yes, Titus" The brunette nodded, green eyes wandering around as she was watching a blonde girl ordering her dog to get on train, quickly jumping on after him and disappearing. 

"Your cousin will meet you there. Remember, Alexandria. There is a lot at stake."

The brunette sharply nodded, having heard those words at least a hundred times in the past week and didn't need further reminder. 

"Goodbye, Titus" She said, letting a man carry her luggages inside and following after him. 

* * *

Clarke didn't know how much time has passed since the train had left King Cross. Aska was laying at her feet, yawning from time to time as he was starting to get bored, too. Clarke had tried to teach him tricks, the first hour - or what felt like the first hour - only to discover he was completely understanding and obeying her. Then Raven had tried telling him to sit, and Aska wouldn't even react when she would talk to him. Then Octavia had tried, too, gaining the same results, which had ended up with both of Clarke's friends sulking for a solid ten minutes before Aska came to nudge their legs as a probable apology. 

Clarke was getting more and more intrigued by her new companion; from what she had seen on King Cross' platform, none of the students had a dog - or a dog-looking creature - as pet. It was more rats, some cats, owls mostly... And there was Aska, looking peaceful and content to just be by Clarke's side. Clarke sighed, and got back to reading _Fantastic beasts_ , still looking for clues. 

Then, somebody knocked on their wagon's door, stucking their head in. 

"Hi, did any of you seen a toad?" A young girlwith curly head asked them, looking around the room. 

"Nope" Raven answered, popping the "p", then narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Hey, Clarke, that's the girl who bought the other half of the library!"

"Raven" Clarke hissed at her friend, then turning to the girl, "Forgive her, she is unfit to evolve around people" She threw a glance at Raven, who was sticking her tongue out at her. 

"I'm Clarke" The blonde introduced herself, "The weird one is Raven, and this is Octavia". 

Octavia nodded as a greeting. 

"Hermione Granger" The girl said, who was already in her robes, "First years, I presume?"

"All three of us, yes" Clarke confirmed. "You too?"

Hermione nodded as a reply, and then spotted the open book on Clarke's lap. "Oh, I read this one. Very interesting."

And then she was off, probably returning to look for this toad she had been speaking about. 

"I'm betting she'll be top of her class" Raven threw a meaningful look at her friends. 

"I am _not betting_ anything again with you, Reyes" Octavia refused. "Learnt my lesson hard enough the first time."

"Oh come on O, it was only..." But Raven was cut off by some students, animately talking about something that seemed to cause great agitation on the train. 

Clarke frowned, getting up and stucking her head out in the corridor, trying to listen for an explanation to what could have caused all this fuss. 

"He is on the train..." She heard students talk, "He is starting this year..." Another one said, "Harry Potter, I've seen him..."

Clarke frowned, looking at their friends. "What the fuck is a Harry Potter?"


	7. The Sorting Hat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and co arrive at Hogwarts. Aska doesn't like Mister Filch's cat. The sorting hat do its job.

Chapter 7 : The Sorting Hat

"Train's slowing down" Octavia said, "We'll be in Hogsmeade in a few minutes" she got up, grabbing her bag from under her seat. "Put your robes on". 

Clarke and Raven did as she told, and when the train stopped, they were all filled with excitement. 

"First years, with me!" A big and deep voice was shouting on the platform, waving around with his lamp. Clarke hadn't even noticed the night settling in, and was looking around with wide eyes. Luggages and trunks were moving on their own, putting themselves on trolleys, alongside owls' cages and all sort of things students could have brought to the school. 

"He needs to go with the luggage" A man in a dark robe pointed to Aska. Clarke frowned, as Aska was getting closer to her and baring his teeth at the new person. 

"Why does he need to go?" Clarke protested, pointing to some students, "This guy as a _rat_ in his pocket" She pointed to a boy a few feet apart; a Weasley kid, Clarke recognised him. 

"There is no room for discussion here" The man strictly said, "The creature goes."

As Clarke was getting ready to protest once more, Octavia put a hand on her arm, trying to stop her from talking. At the same time, Hagrid, whom the group recognised from Diagon Alley was coming towards them. 

"Aska can stay with Clarke" He said to the man in dark robes, "Dumbledore's orders". 

The man threw a dedainous look at the three friends, and then walked away. 

"Alright you three, off you go" Hagrid pushed them to start walking, "Your luggages will wait for you in your rooms after the sorting ceremony. Oy, Harry!" He waved at someone behind them and walked off. 

" _This_ is Harry Potter" Octavia whispered to Clarke, showing her the boy Hagrid was walking up to. "The boy who survived". 

Clarke watched him; Raven and Octavia had explained everything about the link between _He-who-must-not-be-named_ and Harry Potter, defeater of the Dark Lord. Apart from the lighting bold scar he was sporting on his forehead, he seemed like an average kid; and Clarke was wondering what it was like, being famous already. 

"Come on" Octavia showed the boats waiting for them, "Time to get to Hogwarts!" 

* * *

The green eyes girl had sat alone in the Hogwarts Express; not that no one came to talk to her, but rather because she didn't want to talk to anybody. She wanted to believe that now that she was off to Hogwarts, Titus wouldn't be breathing down her neck every two seconds; but with the magic world and all its possibilities, one couldn't be too certain about that. 

So she had sat in silence, waiting for the train to reach its destination. But then, after what felt like an hour had gone by, someone rushed into the cabin, sitting in front of her. 

"Hi, Lexa" The intruder said. "Ready for the sorting ceremony?" 

"Anya" Lexa nodded as a greeting. "As ready as I could be, I guess."

"Titus made your ears bleed with it, didn't he" The Anya girl sighed. 

"It is his job. To get me ready." Lexa only answered, looking trough the window. 

"Ready for _what,_ Lexa?" Anya asked, annoyed that her cousin had been growing around what she would only describe as a bald jackass. 

"You know what for" Lexa murmured. 

"It doesn't mean you can't enjoy your time at the school, in the meantime" Anya said, trying to cheer her cousin up. "Oh, the Potter boy is here, by the way" She informed Lexa, "Seems like all the pieces are coming into play, after all" Anya wondered at loud, getting lost in her thoughts for a moment. 

"Anyways" Anya said, getting up, "I have to go back to the fourth years' wagon, where I hope stupid Blake is done talking about his sister" Anya rolled her eyes, and then giving a sympathetic smile to her cousin. 

"You'll see, Lexa. Not everything is about duty." Abby threw a last glance at her, and then left the cabin. 

Lexa waited a few seconds to see if her cousin would come back, and then got back to staring outside the window once again, lost deep in her thoughts. 

* * *

Octavia hold up her hand to help Clarke get off the boat. Everything around them was a beautiful sight; the castle itself was enormous, and it was hurting her neck to try to see the top of it. 

Hagrid let them onto a gravelled path, and then straight onto a big bridge which looks like at least ten centuries old. Which actually made sense, now that Clarke was thinking about it, remembering her mother's description of the place. 

Finally, they reached Hogwarts' main doors, so high once again Clarke hurt her neck trying to take everything in. Hagrid rassembled them at the bottom of big stone stairs, telling them to wait for someone to come fetch them. 

"Trevor!" Somebody then shouted, rushing to the bottom step where was sitting a toad. 

"Oh oh" Raven whispered, spotting the figure standing at the top of the stairs, watching the boy with a stern look. "That's professor McGonagall" Raven said to Clarke, "She's Gryffindor's director". 

"Are you done, Longbottom?" The professor asked, looking annoyed. His face red up to his ears, the boy called Longbottom felle back into the group, trying to get himself forgotten. 

Then, Clarke sensed eyes boring into her skull; she turned around, spotting a young girl with green eyes, watching her from a few feet away before quickly looking somewhere else. Weird, Clarke thought; she had a feeling she knew this girl from somewhere, or even weirder, that the girl knew _her_. 

"Look" Raven whispered, bringing Clarke's attention back to her, "Hermione's here, front row. Top of her class, I'm telling you."

"Stop it" Clarke chuckled, as the group was moving again, following professor Mcgonagall in the corridors. 

* * *

Clarke was impressed by everything she could put her eyes on; the various statues all around, _moving_ paintings on the wall with people _taking_ and _greeting_ them as they walked by, the big and high walls all around them... 

"Beautiful, right?" Octavia murmured. She had seen Hogwarts before, on pictures, but it was a completely different thing that to see it with her own eyes. There was something to powerful about this place, Clarke found herself thinking, and it was bringing her a peace of mind she couldn't really understand; almost as if she was always meant to _belong_ here. 

Then, professor Mcgonagall was pushing heavy doors open, revealing four giant rows of tables, with students sitting from each parts. 

"The great hall" Raven whispered to her friends, "The common room really, the only place all houses share". 

They walked in silence as Mcgonagall was leading them up front, under the curious eyes of older students, all already sorted out in their houses. Gryffindor seemed to be sat left, then Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw on each side the central aisle, and then Slytherin to the right, opposite from Gryffindor. 

"It's not real the ceiling" They heard Hermione said, walking a few students ahead, "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I've read about it in _Hogwarts, a history_." 

Raven threw a pointed look at her friends, but before she could say anything, Mcgonagall made them stop in front of a set of tables and chairs where were sitting adults, whom Clarke presumed were all teachers at the school. At the front of each table were empty plates; for the new students rejoining the houses, Clarke deduced. 

"Would you wait around here please?" Mcgonagall them, gesturing for them to gather around as she was talking, "Now, before we begin, professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."

An old man got up, sitting in the middle. Clarke recognised him; he was indeed the one who had visited her a few days back and given her her letter. 

"I have a few start of terms notices that I wish to announce" he started. "The first years, please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students". 

"Why would we want to go in such a place anyways?" a student behind them whispered, only for his friend to laugh. "Maybe there's some magical herbs there, if you know what I mean..."

Clarke rolled her eyes at the duo, shushing them so they could listen to Dumbledore. 

"Also, our caretaker Mister Filch has asked me to remind you, that the third floor corridor on the right wing is out of bounds to everyone that does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." 

"Well that welcome talk was fun" Raven ironically said. Clarke and Octavia chuckled; to their surprise, the two boys standing next to them did too. Then, Clarke felt Aska move at her feet; which was weird, because he had always stayed still for hours : if Clarke wasn't moving, then he would not move either. 

Clarke followed's Aska eyes to the object of his attention; a cat, sitting next to the man whom Dumbledore had introduced as Mister Filch the caretaker. 

"Aska, down" Clarke whispered. Aska let out a quiet grunt, but did as he was told and got back to sit at Clarke's feet. Clarke exhaled; for some reasons Dumbledore had allowed her to keep Aska by her side, and she didn't want to give the man any reason to take his words back. 

"When I call your name" Mcgonagall started talking again, recapturing all students' attention, "You will come forth. I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you'll be sorted into your houses." 

Clarke frowned as she looked closer at the said sorting hat; it really was a hat, a wizard hat. 

"This thing will get dust all over my hair" Raven pulled up her nose in disgust, "I don't wanna be sorted anymore."

"Stop being stupid" Octavia chuckled, feining being annoyed by her friend. 

"Hermione Granger!" Mcgonagall called, as the girl was moving to the chair. 

"Ok, relax" Clarke heard her whisper to herself. 

"Mental that one, I'm telling you" the young Weasley boy murmured to Harry, a few feet from Clarke and her friends. Clarke internally scoffed; who was he to judge someone as quickly as he was doing with Hermione? 

As Hermione was the first new student being called up, every eyes were set on her as Mcgonagall hold up the hat, slowly putting in in top of the girl's head. 

"Ah, right then..." The sorting hat started to talk, make Clarke slightly jump. No one had tell her the hat actually _talked_ !

"Hm... Right! Ok... GRYFFINDOR!" The hat suddenly exclaimed, as Gryffindor students were then clapping for Hermione, quickly getting up the chair and joining the rest of her new house on the benches. 

"Draco Malefoy" Mcgonagall then called. A blonde boy moved up to the stage. Clarke had a sense she wouldn't be friend with him; everything about him screaming of arrogance and an excessive ego too big for his shoulders. the professor had not even put the hat on his head that it was already screaming "SLYTHERIN!" into the great hall, adding a bit more pride to Drago's already annoying attitude. 

"There's not a witch or wizard that went bad that wasn't in Slytherin" Clarke heard the Weasley boy murmured to Harry again. Clarke didn't know of a lot of wizards gone bad, but if everyone in Slytherin was like this Drago boy, no wonder they all turned bad. But then again, Bellamy was a great person, and his Slytherin friends seemed rather ok too, so Clarke wasn't going to make a generality of it. 

"Susan Bones" Mcgonagall called again. 

"Guys, what if we're not sorted together?" Clarke started to get worried. 

"You heard Bell" Octavia gave her a reassuring smile, "We'll be fine either way. Every each of us where we belong". 

Clarke nodded as the sorting hat was sorting Susan Bones in Hufflepuff. 

"Octavia Blake!" 

Clarke's heart jumped into her chest as Octavia was bravely walking on the stage, trying to look unafraid. Raven suptilely got closer to Clarke, and the blonde could even feel Aska being uneasy watching Octavia walk away. 

"Hm..." The hat mumbled, "A Blake... But the choice is more complicated this time... Where to put you, then...? Hm... GRYFFINDOR!" He exclaimed after felt like an endless reflection. Octavia smiled at her friends, and then threw a look at her brother; if Bellamy was disappointed she wasn't going to be a Slytherin like him, he didn't show it and was only grinning with pride and clapping for his little sister. 

"Ronald Weasley!" 

Clarke watched as Ron was timidly walking to the stage, a bit shaking as he was sitting on the chair. 

"Ah! Another Weasley" The sorting hat said, making Ron jump and Raven chuckle. "I know just what to do with you. GRYFFINDOR!" Ron, visibly relieved, quickly got up and joined the Gryffindor table under the applause of his two brothers. 

"Clarke Griffin!" Clarke's heart stopped dead as all colors seemed to drain from her face. She threw a last worried look at Raven, who only smiled at her, encouraging her to go to the stage. "Remember, Griffin" The brunette whispered to her friend, "We will go where we belong."

Clarke nodded at her, swallowing as she started walking, Aska on her heels. She sat on the chair, and waited for the sorting hat to start talking, once put on her head. "Oh!" The hat exclaimed, "I never thought I would... So very rare... Unusual, even for a Griffin... That's not even a question as to where to put you... GRYFFINDOR!" He shouted, applauses going on a few seconds later. "Aska is Gryffindor too" The hat added, surprinsing everyone and effectively setting up silence once more. 

After a last look at Raven, who gave Clarke thumbs up with a smile, still waiting to be sorted, Clarke jogged up to Octavia, smiling from ear to ear, Aska following close. "I hope Raven will be Gryffindor too" Clarke said sitting down, ordering Aska to lay down at her feet. Octavia hummed, getting her attention back to the ceremony. 

"Lexa Woods!" Mcgonagall called. A big silence was set upon the hall, all students watchely looking at the brunette girl walking to the stage, holding her head up like she was royalty. She was a great sight to the eye, Clarke had to admit. Then, the brunette girl turned around, and Clarke stiffened on her bench as their eyes crossed paths; it was the same girl she had seen looking at her, just before entering the hall. 

The sorting hat didn't speak when first put of Lexa's head. Clarke started to think he was broken, but Octavia offered another explanation instead. 

"The Woods are a very ancient wizards family" She whispered, "Actually I don't think a single person of this family is not a wizard. The legends say that the sorting hat has never talked, when it came to sort Woods Wizards". 

"They've been here for as long as magic itself" A young man confirmed, . "The frightening brunette over here is Anya Woods" He pointed to a girl sitting at the Slytherin table. "I was there for her sorting ceremony, and the sorting hat didn't say a work except her house" He said, holding his hand for the two friends to shake. "I'm Percy Weasley."

"One of Ron's brothers" Clarke deduced, shaking the offered hand. Percy nodded, and they turned their eyes back on the girl. 

Not a sound could be heard in the big room; Clarke was fascinated by the girl on the chair. Something, a feeling she couldn't explain, was pulling at her and was making her want to be near the green-eyed brunette. Aska was getting shifty too, laying at Clarke's feet. The blonde started running her fingers on his head, calming him down. 

The sorting hat had not said a word for a few minutes now; and even professors were beginning to find it weird. Then, finally, it screamed : "SLYTHERIN !" Everyone seemed to release the breath they've been holding as Lexa was welcomed to the Slytherin table by grinning students, very proud of having another Woods in their house. 

"Harry Potter?" Mcgonagall called next. Whispers filled the room as everyone began to chatter. The boy bravely got onto the chair. 

"Hm... Difficult, _very_ difficult... Plenty of courage I see... "The sorting hat started talking, looking as if it was thinking really hard about it, "Not a bad mind either... There's talent, oh, yes... And a thirst, to prove yourself... But where to put you..." 

Then, Clarke frowned as Harry seemed to mumble to himself - or to the sorting hat. 

"Not Slytherin aye?" The sorting hat said as Harry opened wide eyes, probably not having anticipated the hat revealing his quiet words. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know... It's all here, in your head... And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubts about that...! No...? Well... If you're sure... Better be... GRYFFINDOR!" 

With a big grin on his face, Harry went to sit in front of her, next to Ron, as everyone in Gryffindor was clapping for the famous Harry Potter. 

"Raven Reyes!" Clarke and Octavia quickly got their attention bac kto the stage where Raven was now sitting on the chair, the sorting hat on her head. 

"Oh, brilliant mind..." The sorting hat murmured, "Great things to be accomplished... But a deep sense of loyalty, too... We wouldn't want your talent to be wasted... RAVENCLAW!" 

Raven winked at her friends at the Gryffindor table, grinning, and went to join the Ravenclaw students on the benches, welcoming her with smiles. 

Clarke was disappointed; she had really thought they all were going to be sorting in the same house... What if Raven wasn't happy about it? 

* * *

"Your attention please!" Mcgonagall asked, making her glass ring with her fork. 

Dumbledore got up, a smile on his face. "May the feast... Begin!" he said, as whispers of wonder erupted from every part of the room as food was appearing all over the tables. 

"Get used to it" Percy said to Clarke, chuckling at her surprised face, "Welcome to Gryffindor, Clarke." Clarke smiled back, slowly letting the excitement take over. Quickly looking around to see if anyone was watching her, she snatched a piece of chicken and threw it under the table; Aska was very pleased about it and began to happily munch on it. 

Diner was spent listening to older Gryffindor students telling them about the House's history and such. Then, Percy, Ron and Octavia spent at least a good hour trying to explain Quidditch rules to Clarke and Harry, who were looking at each other, completely lost into this magic world they had been dropped into. 

From time to time, Clarke would turn her head around, making sure that Raven was ok. Oblivious to her friend's worries, Raven spent her time laughing with her housemates. 

Clarke didn't notice Lexa, sitting at the Slytherin table, watching her from afart all evening. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you haven't noticed by now, I'm mixing the 100 universe into Harry Potter's story, so there will be dialogues and events from the books and/or the movies, as the story goes forward!   
> The story will be focused on Clarke and co, of course, but they'll evolve alongside Harry Potter and every Hogwarts' original characters.


	8. An unwanted Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke is worried about Raven and thinks about the sorting hat's words. Aska makes a new friend. They take their first lessons and Clarke has a thousand questions. There's a troll in the dungeon and someone helps save the day.

Chapter 8 : A unwelcomed Troll

"Gryffindor follow me please, keep up, thank you" Percy said, guiding the first years towards Gryffindor Tower. He was a prefect, the young man had explained over diner, and judging by Ron's face as he had said it, Percy was probably very proud of it. 

"Ravenclaw follow me, this way" Another prefect with a blue tie said, directing Ravenclaw's first years to their own tower. Octavia and Clarke quickly waved goodbye at Raven, who waved back, because focusing their attention on their steps again. 

"This is the most direct path to the dormitories" Percy explained as whispers of wonder were raising through the students; the stairs, they _moved_! When her friends had told her the castle itself was full of magic, she had wondered what it meant; it was very clear now. 

Clarke was looking with wide eyes at all the pictures on the wall, with moving people in it; she would probably never get used to that; 

Then, Percy made them stop in front of a large painting with a big lady on it. Then, the lady spoke : "Password?"

Clarke frowned. Why would a picture ask for a password? 

" _Caput Draconis_ " Percy then said. 

The picture opened, leaving place for a door into the wall. The group entered the room, arriving into what was in fact Grynffindor's common room. 

"Everyone gather around here" Percy asked. "Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room. Boys dormitories are upstairs down to your left, girls to your right" He showed them, "You'll find all your belongings that have already been brought up."

He then left them. 

"Come on now!" Octavia smiled at her friend, beginning to run up the stairs, "Dibs on the best bed!" 

Clarke chuckled, starting to run after her. 

Their room was quite small; Clarke presumed only first years would sleep in it, and from what she had seen, they couldn't be more than ten new gryffindor students this year. 

Octavia was already laying down on one of the bed, mumbling about comfy sheets and a big mattress. 

"Aska, what do you think?" Clarke asked her dog, who had sat himself at her feet as usual. "Which bed?" 

Clarke chuckled as Aska twisted his head to the side, like he was really thinking about it, and then got up to lay down at the feet of a bed next to Octavia. 

"Alright then" Clarke said, sitting on her new bed. She watched as the other girls were already getting stuff out of their cases, folding clothes into the closet. Hermione, who had chosen the bed next to Clarke, seemed very busy in organising her books on her shelve. Clarke then re-thought what Hermione had said, while entering the great hall. 

"Hermione" Clarke asked, "Do you think I could borrow your book on Hogwarts?"

"Yes of course Clarke" Hermione smiled, getting the book on the shelf and giving it to the blonde. "I am glad someone here understands the power of books."

Clarke chuckled, thanking the girl. 

She threw a glance at Octavia, who was unloading her case. Clarke frowned; what about Raven? Was she ok in her own tower? Did she had made friends already, or was she alone?

"Clarke, you're thinking too loud" Octavia threw her scarf at Clarke, effectively stopping her track of thoughts. "What's up?"

"I worry about Raven" The blonde sighed. "Do you think she's ok?"

"Clarke" Octavia gently said, coming to sit on Clarke's bed next to her friend. "We already knew Raven would be in Ravenclaw. And that I would probably end up in Gryffindor."

" _We_ ?" Clarke frowned. 

"Yes" Octavia nodded, offering a smile to her friend. "Raven and I". Octavia noticed the confused look on Clarke's face. "Raven was meant to be Ravenclaw, with her brilliant mind. You've heart it, even the sorting hat said it. And myself, well, I couldn't be Slytherin, I am not like you, or my brother, I am not looking for leadership and stuff" Octavia explained. "And I would never have made it to Ravenclaw either. Raven and I knew we wouldn't be sorted in the same house." 

"But why didn't you tell me anything?" Clarke frowned even more. 

On the floor, Aska was shifting, now sitting up and closely looking at Clarke, as if he was trying to decide if his owner was threatened. Octavia and Clarke, lost in their discussion, didn't notice the curious look Hermione was giving Aska, nor the book she was quickly turning the pages.

"We didn't know where you'd be sorted" Octavia said, "And we didn't want you to worry about us."

"But how could you, or Raven, guess where you'd be sorted, and not me?" Clarke asked, getting a bit upset about the situation.

"Because, Clarke" Octavia confessed, "You had every four houses' caracteristics."

Clarke didn't answer; Octavia took it as her cue to leave her be, and Aska got back to laying on the floor. Soon enough, it was time to go to bed and they all got under their covers. Aska got on the bed, settling at Clarke's feet; Raven had said once that his was like a guard dog, always sleeping with one eye open, looking for threats. 

But sleep didn't come easy to Clarke; the sorting hat's words were turning in her head, over and over again, as she was trying to make sense of it all. _So very rare_ , he had said. _Unusual, even for a Griffin_ … Did it meant that the sorting hat had already been in contact with other Griffins before? And the way he was acting, like he was surprised to meet her, like he hadn't expecting her to be there in Hogwarts. Why did she had the impression that her own existence was covered by secrets? Why was she feeling like people were hiding things from her? 

* * *

Lexa was finishing unpacking her bags when she heard the steps of someone she knew well. 

"Anya" Lexa said, not turning around to greet her cousin. 

"Hi Lexa" The brunette answered, walking around the room. "You're all settled?"

"I am" Lexa nodded. 

Anya nodded back, letting her eyes wander around for a bit. "Are you glad?" She then asked. 

"For what?" 

"To be Slytherin." Anya added. 

"It was inevitable" Lexa sighed. No one could win against a destiny already written. 

"It was apparently inevitable for her, too" Anya said, looking at her cousin for her reaction. "I've seen her. Gryffindor."

"I don't want to talk about her" Lexa dryly cut off her cousin, putting her shoes into the closet. 

"But you will have to talk _to_ her." 

"She wasn't supposed to _be_ there" Lexa protested, already fed up with the matter. "We weren't supposed to meet. I wasn't supposed to have the occasion to see her, even less talk to her. If _i_ was forced to go into Hogwarts, she was _not_. That was the deal." 

Anya didn't answer; even if she had not been raised by Titus for as long as Lexa had been, she knew everything that was at stake. 

"I know, Lexa" Anya finally said, putting something on her cousin's bed. "But maybe it's a sign."

"A sign?" Lexa scoffed, "A sign for what exactly?"

"To show you that not everything is already written down yet."

Anya left, leaving Lexa alone with her thoughts. 

* * *

Clarke first classes were definitely something.

First, they had had a class about flying on brooms, which Clarke knew a wizard did, but it was something else than to put a actual broom between your legs and trying to _fly_ on it. This class was shared with Slytherin, and Clarke could feel the green-eyed girl looking at her the whole class. Which had gotten Clarke distracted, to then order her broom to get up and sending it flying into her own face, leaving her with a bad bruise on her nose. 

Draco, the Slytherin arrogant boy, had then stole something from Neville and provoked Harry into chasing him on their brooms; Harry did, and McGonagall had caught him, to then pick him up, probably for detention. 

So here they were, sitting at a table in the common room, waiting for Harry to come back from McGonagall's office. Raven and two other Ravenclaws students were there, one of them called Wick, if Clarke remembered well. Ron and his two brothers were bantering about their mother's last letter, where she was accusing the twins to do tricks on first years, while the twins were blaming Ron. 

"Oh, here she is again" Octavia pointed to Lexa, sitting alone at Slytherin table, reading an heavy book. "She's very weird this one. Couldn't stop staring at Clarke all lesson."

"I don't think she was actually _staring_ at me, O" Clarke rolled her eyes, "I just… I don't know. I feel like I know her, somehow." Clarke said, looking towards Lexa with this inexplicable feeling she had had for weeks now. 

But then, something even more inexplicable happened; Lexa turned around to where the group was sitting. Aska suddenly got up, lightly jogging up to the brunette. Clarke got up too, ready to catch Aska before he was jumping at the brunette's throat. But Clarke stopped dead in her tracks; Aska was licking Lexa's fingers, letting her touch him, as she was talking to the dog. 

"What the hell…?" Octavia murmured, watching Lexa and Aska together. 

"I thought Aska didn't let anyone touch him except for Clarke?" Ron asked, frowning at the scene. 

"He doesn't" Clarke frowned, too; Aska wasn't letting anyone approach him, even people whom he knew like Octavia or her mother, but now, he was acting _friendly_ with Lexa? 

Then, Lexa looked at Clarke with an unreadable facial expression, put her book and stuff back in her bag and was out of the common room in a minute. 

Aska jogged back to Clarke, sitting at her feet. Clarke threw him an unimpressed look. "Care to explain yourself?" Clarke annoyedly asked to her companion. 

Aska only happily barked as an answer.

* * *

Harry had made it into the Gryffindor's Quidditch Team after the stunt he had pulled at their last flying class, and their first game was approaching. Clarke was really looking forward to it, as she had never seen real quidditch. 

But first, they had potions class; entering the room, she immediately recognized the teacher; it was that man again, the one who didn't want Aska to stay with Clarke, back at Hogsmeade's station. 

"That's Severus Snape" Ron whispered to them, "People say he's been wanting to teach defense against the dark arts for a long time now, but got stuck with Potions" Ron added. "He's Slytherin's director."

Clarke nodded at Ron, thanking him for the intel. Then, she saw Snape put his eyes on Aska, following close to Clarke as always; and by the look on his face, Clarke decided she didn't like that man at all. 

"You will sit next to someone of the other house" He ordered in a cold and monotone voice, almost as if he was already bored of being here. Letting a sigh escape, Octavia and Clarke walked away from each other, searching for a Slytherin partner. 

As she was going to sit herself next to a Slytherin girl that seemed kind enough, someone blocked her way. 

"Team up with me, Griffin" Draco Malefoy said. "We could do great things. I have seen you with your broom, the other day. Truly, fascinating the power you have on your magic. Are you a wizard, at least?" He provoked her. 

Clarke was trying to keep her calm, but he was making it really difficult. She was about to answer when someone blocked her way once again. 

"Stand down, Malefoy" Lexa said, putting herself between the two, "Clarke's with me."

Too surprised to say anything, Clarke followed Lexa to an empty table, sitting on the stool. 

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class" Snape stated. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the science and the exact art of potions making." He looked over the class, eyes stopping on Clarke, then Aska… Then Harry Potter. "However, for those selected few who possess the predispositions" He continued, throwing looks at Lexa and Draco Malefoy, "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper on death."

He stopped, looking at them like they were nobodies. "Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to _not_ pay attention!"

Clarke watched as Hermione was lightly hitting Harry with her elbow, as he was concentrating in writing stuff down. 

"Mister Potter" Snape then walked towards him, "Our new… Celebrity."

Then, the teacher asked a bunch of questions to the boy, who didn't have any of the answers - contrary to Hermione, always raising her hand. Hermione was scaring Clarke with all her knowledge, but then again, seeing Harry struggle with the magic world was a reassuring sight for Clarke, whom didn't have a single answer either. 

"How are we supposed to know all that already?" Clarke whispered in a huff, talking to Lexa. 

"If you'd read books, or study for even five minutes, you'd know" Lexa coldly answered, not even turning her head to Clarke to answer her. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Clarke frowned, not liking Lexa's behavior. 

"It means that maybe not every wizard kid should come study into Hogwarts" Lexa stated with the same icy voice. Clarke scoffed, as Aska on the floor started quietly growling, but before Clarke could talk to him, she was cut off by Lexa. 

"Aska, down" Lexa said to him. 

Clarke was too stunned to react as Aska was effectively calming down and sitting at her feet once again. "Don't talk to him" Clarke gritted her teeth, "How do you know his name anyways?"

"He told me" Lexa said, sighing, and then rolled her eyes, "Now can you please stop talking so we can actually focus on the class?"

Once again, Clarke was too stunned to say anything, and tried to get her attention back on what Snape was trying to teach them. Who did she think she was, acting like that? Clarke definitely didn't like her, and she was slowly starting to think all Slytherins were indeed bad seeds. 

Then, class was over and Clarke couldn't be more relieved about it. Quickly, she put all of her stuff back in her bag, eager to get out of the classroom and away from the not-so-kind brunette. 

"Clarke" Lexa suddenly said, stopping Clarke in her actions, "If you don't want to be criticized about your abilities, then you should get better at it. This... _magic_ you're doing" Lexa waved with her hand towards Clarke as if she was some kind of incompetent wizard, "Won't let you live long if you don't improve quickly."

And a second later Lexa was out of the room, leaving Clarke stunned once again, standing at her desk. 

"Clarke, you're ok?" Octavia walked up to her, seeing that Clarke hadn't move in some time, "I saw Lexa come to you to be paired together. What was that about?"

"I have absolutely no idea" Clarke murmured, a thousand questions running on her mind. 

* * *

The first week was over, and the students were using the weekend to learn and review everything they had seen and discovered over the week. Clarke, head stuck into the book Hermione had lent her, didn't hear Raven come up to them and sit next to them in the great hall. Each tower had its own common room, where people usually studied, but as they weren't all in the same house, they had chosen to meet in the great hall, where all of them could get together. 

"So, I've found something" Raven said, grinning with some light in her eyes; that couldn't be a good thing. 

"Rae, what did you do this time?" Octavia narrowed her eyes at her friend, also looking towards the Weasley twins, who always seemed to be in trouble for something. 

"Nothing!" Raven protested, "look what I've found" the girl said, getting a old book out of her bag, which looked like at least a thousand years old. 

" _Myths and legends about the magic world_ " Octavia read the cover. "What about it?"

"I've found it in the library, hidden behind other books" Raven explained, turning the pages of it and probably looking for something specific. "Look at this" She showed them a picture of four men, standing side by side. 

Clarke closed her own book to focus on what Raven was showing them. 

"That's Hogwart's founders" Bellamy said, recognising the figures on the pictures. "Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin" he pointed to each of them while naming them. 

"I've read about them in _Hogwarts: a history_ " Clarke murmured, not really understanding where Raven wanted to go with this, "They say they founded the school together, but that Salazar only wanted pure-bloods to attend, got into a fight with the three others about it, and ended up quitting the school."

"Yeah" Raven nodded, "But look at him" She said, pointing to Salazar Slytherin, "Doesn't he remind you of someone?"

Clarke took a closer look at the man. Narrowing her eyes, he actually looked a bit like... "He looks like Lexa" Clarke finally said, eyes a bit widening. 

"Exactly" Raven grinned.

"So you're saying Woods is Slytherin's descendant or something?" Bellamy frowned. 

"Impossible" George and Fred said at the same time, "Slytherins are exctincted. They were all dark wizards, with frightening appeals for power. They kind of auto-destructed themselves."

"That's what I thought, too" Raven grinned again, "And we all know that the Woods are a very old and ancient Wizards family, so I tried going all the way up their family tree. The tree stops at the same period Salazar Slytherin was alive" Raven showed them on the family tree she had sketched onto a parchment. "And although Lexa is a Woods, her name doesn't appear anywhere. It's like her whole branch of the tree is erased. Look" Raven pointed on the tree again, "No parents. I couldn't find their names anywhere, and therefore I couldn't find anyone related to her". 

"That's weird" Octavia said. "Clarke, what do you think?"

"I don't know" Clarke shrugged, "And truthfully, I don't know what we could do with this information. Whether she is in fact Slytherin's descendant doesn't really change anything, right?"

The rest of them shrugged. "Well it could at least explain the behavior of the girl" Bellamy answered. "She's weird. Anya is, too." 

Clarke nodded; Lexa Woods was indeed weird, and she couldn't shake this feeling that something was up. 

* * *

Weeks were going by so fast that the group found itself already at Halloween season in a blink of an eye. 

Today, they had Charms class again, where Mister Flitwick was trying to teach them basic spells. Hermione, of course, always ended up top of the class each and every time, giving reason to Raven. 

Clarke liked those classes, because they were shared with Ravenclaw students; which meant they could see Raven and the group of friends she seemed to now have. 

Well, not everyone was grateful to share the class with Ravenclaw; Mister Flitwick was tired of cleaning dust because of Raven and Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor boy, were always, _always_ , blowing up stuff. 

Clarke also liked those classes because she surprisingly wasn't too bad at Charms; although she wasn't as good as Hermione - no one could be as good as her - she had succeded in making every spell Mister Flitwick was teaching them, and was kind of prouf of herself for it. 

Octavia and Raven, although pure-bloods, were not finding it easy and were also very proud of Clarke for her apparent success. 

Today, they were learning the _Leviosa_ spell, a levitation spell that the teacher was trying to make them use on a feather. Although it looked easy to do, the spell was quite tricky as it required a certain pronunciation and a special wrist's move. 

"Levitation" Mister Flitwick had said, "The ability to make an object fly. Don't forget the switch and flick move we've been practicing, and enonciate _Wingardium Leviosa_. Off you go, then" He then had let them practice doing the spell on their own. 

Clarke chuckled as Seamus blowed up his feather, only gaining sighs from mister Flitwick who was getting used to it by now. "I think we're going to need another feather here, professor" Harry said, glasses slightly off after the light blow the explosion had caused. 

Then, Octavia lightly pulled on Clarke's sleeve, pointing towards Ron Weasley, sitting a few rows of tables ahead of them. "I don't think Ron is made for Charms Class" Octavia said with a smile as the two girls were watching him wave his wand in every possible direction, trying to get his feather to levitate. 

"No, stop stop stop" Hermione suddenly stopped Ron's mouvements, "You're going to take someone eye's out. Besides, you're saying it wrong" Hermione added. "It's LeviOsa, not Leviosaaaa." 

Octavia sniggered at Hermione's antics, while Raven was, once again, mouthing "top of the class". 

"You do it if you're so clever" Ron talked back at Hermione, a frown on his face, "Go on!". 

With a determined look on her face, Hermione took her wand, and... " _Wingardium leviosa_ ". Her feather was up the air, flying in the middle of the room. Aska barked, seeing the unkown object in the air. Clarke chuckled, petting his head so he wouldn't bother the class. 

"Oh well done!" Mister Flitwick exclaimed, "See here everyone! Miss Granger has just done it! Splendid."

Ron rolled his eyes, sulking at the girl. 

"Boys, I swear" Raven rolled her eyes at the redhead as Octavia and Clarke were amused at their antics. 

* * *

Lexa was sitting on a bench in one of Hogwarts' courtyard, doing her homework about some plants for professor Pomona Sprout' class. Lexa was actually quite bored about the class, feeling like studying botany and herbology couldn't be _that_ important into a wizard's life. But she needed to have perfect grades, so not studying for the class wasn't an option. 

Her attention was then attracted to Gryffindors students getting out of one of their classes. 

A weasley boy, the youngest - Ron, Lexa believed was his name - was making fun of someone as Harry Potter and their friends were laughing along. 

"It's leviOsa, not Leviosaaaa" Ron ironically mimicked, "She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends" The redhaired boy added. 

A few feet from them, Lexa had spotted Clarke and her two others friends, frowning at the boy's behavior. 

Then, a girl walked away quickly from the group, punching Ron in the shoulder as she was walking away. 

"I think she heard you" Harry said to Ron. 

"It's not cool to make fun of people like this, Ron" Clarke frowned, telling the boy. "She's muggle-born, like me. Not everything make sense when you're not from a wizard family. Some of us actually have to learn about this." She said to him, visibly uspet, "I'll go after her." She told her friends, who nodded as Clarke was fastening her pace to catch up with Hermione, Aska following close to her. 

Lexa frowned, watching Clarke walk away; Clarke _wasn't_ muggle-born. Why would she say something like this? 

* * *

It was diner time, and the great hall had been decorating with Halloween stuff for the occasion. Octavia was looking around, waiting for Clarke to appear, exchanging looks with Raven, sitting at her Ravenclaw table, also worried about their missing friend. 

"What's up, Octavia?" Ron asked, happily munching on some chicken wings. 

"Clarke's not back" Octavia frowned. "She's been gone for a couple of hours now."

"Hermione's not here, either" Harry noted, looking around in search of the girl. 

"Some girls said Hermione had been crying into the girls' room" A Gryffindor boy told them. 

"Maybe Clarke's with her, and they're chatting, like girls do" Ron shrugged. 

Octavia threw a dark look at Ron, who quickly apologized. 

"Aska's with her" Neville Longbottom said, "Clarke will be ok. This dog is a smart creature." 

Octavia hummed, not really convinced and still worried about the blonde.

Suddenly, the main doors opened and professor Quirrell came running into the great hall, screaming. "A TROLL ! A TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!"

All professors got up as the man was running towards the stage. "I thought you'd want to know..."

And the man fainted, falling to the floor. There was a second of complete silence in the room... Before everyone began to scream, get up and run into every directions. 

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's voice resonated in the hall, restoring the silence once more. "Everyone would please not panic. Now, prefects lead your houses back to the dormitories" He ordered. "Teachers, please follow me to the dungeons."

Quickly, Octavia and the rest of house Gryffindor were lead away by Percy. "Gryffindors, keep close and stay alert!" He told them, setting a quick pace towards their tower. 

"How would a troll get in?" Harry whispered, asking Ron. 

"Not on its own" Ron answered, "Trolls are really stupid. I bet it's a student who wanted to make a joke". 

But suddenly, Harry grabbed Octavia and Ron by their sleeves, taking them to the side. 

"What?" Ron asked. 

"Hermione and Clarke! They don't know!" Harry said, remembering the girls were supposedly in the bathroom, not aware of a troll on the loose.

"Crap" Octavia mumbled, as they started running towards the girl's bathroom. 

* * *

Lexa frowned, not seeing Clarke at the Gryffindor's table for diner. 

"What's up Lexa?" Anya asked, "You're thinking too hard."

"Clarke should be back by now" Lexa frowned again, discreetly scanning the Gryffindor students in search of blond hair. 

"You told me you didn't even want to talk about her, and now you're _watching_ her ?" Anya frowned, not understanding her cousin's behavior.

"It's not like that" Lexa huffed, noticing how Octavia was sitting alone and how she seemed to be scanning the room, too. 

Anya opened her mouth to speak, but was cut of by Professor Quirrell screaming about some troll in the dungeons. 

"What the hell is happening again" Anya sighed, getting up. "Follow your prefect back to the tower. I'll see you later."

Lexa nodded her goodbye to her cousin, following her prefect on their way to the Slytherin Tower. But then, she spotted Harry, Octavia and Ron animately talking, a few stairs down Lexa, and suddenly taking off, breaking off from the Gryffindor group. 

Lexa frowned; what the hell were they doing? Quickly looking around to make sure no one had eyes on her, she left her group, and followed them into the corridors. 

* * *

Harry, Ron and Octavia were running in the corridors. 

"Watch out!" Octavia suddenly said, shoving them to the side. A few feet away from them, a giant silhouette could be seen on the walls. 

"It seems like the troll has left the dungeon!" Ron observed, watching as the troll was indeed walking into the corridor, some big wooden staff in his hand. "It's going to the girls' bathroom!" he said, as he watched in horror the troll getting into it. 

In the bathroom, Clarke and Hermione were sitting inside one of the cabins, talking about how difficult it was to be a muggle-born in a world full of a magic they had no clue about until only a couple months ago. 

"He doesn't understand" Clarke told Hermione, trying to calm her down, "Magic's all he knows. He doesn't know what it's like, to have to learn everything about it in a couple of weeks."

"That doesn't give him the right to be a jackass" Hermione sniffed. 

"No it does not" Clarke chuckled. "But you are better than this. You're top of the class, Hermione" Clarke said, repeating Raven's favorite words about the girl. "You're better than most of us, better than even pure-bloods. It shouldn't really matter if your parents are wizards or not."

"It shouldn't, but it _does_ , Clarke" Hermione sniffed again, "Look at how Malefoy talked to you. Or the Slytherin girl. They believe muggle-borns are just a mistake, that they don't deserve to be wizards."

"Then all we have to do is prove them wrong" Clarke shrugged. "Be _better_ than them. Learn faster, work harder."

"Yeah, you may be right" Hermione said, offering a tiny smile to the blonde. "I mean, look at Ron, Weasleys had been wizards for generation, and he couldn't do the Leviosa spell work anyways."

"Exactly" Clarke smiled. 

They fell into a comfortable silence, Aska laying between the two of them. 

"So, I've been meaning to tell you" Hermione started, "I think Aska is..."

But Hermione was cut off but a big noise. 

"What was that?" Clarke got up on her feet, as Hermione was doing so too. 

"No idea" Hermione frowned, looking at Aska who seemed to be in alert-mode. "Something's not right..."

Slowly, she pushed the door open... 

"Oh crap" Clarke said, as they found themselves in front of a full adult troll. 

* * *

Hermione screamed as the troll was sending the top of the cabins flying up, destroying everything it could hit with his staff. 

"Get under the sinks!" Clarke shouted, only to find out it wasn't that good of an idea when the troll decided to destroy the sinks one by one in hopes of crunching Hermione at the same time. 

Aska was growling, trying to bit the troll's ankles as Clarke was furiously thinking about a way to get them out of the situation. 

But then the doors opened, as Octavia, Ron and Harry were rushing into the room, eyes widening when they spotted the troll. 

"Clarke, Hermione, move!" Harry screamed at them, as the trio began to pick debries up and throw them at the giant creature to shift its attention to them. it didn't really work as the troll continued to chase after Hermione. 

Then, Harry got his wand out, grabbing the troll's staff as he was getting ready to strike again. He found himself hauled up by the troll, and ended up on his shoulders. That didn't fit well with the creature as he started trying to get to Harry instead. 

"Do something! "Harry shouted at Ron as he had managed to stick his wand into the troll's nose, "Anything!" 

Octavia rushed to the floor, getting Hermione and Clarke out of the way. 

Ron picked up his wand, ready to try anything, when a big light rushed into the room. 

" _Stupefix_ " A voice said as the spell was hitting the troll in the chest, effectively freezing it. Lexa had her wand raised, looking at the troll with determination in her eyes, not one bit afraid by it. 

" _Wingardium leviosa_ " Ron then said, getting the staff out of the troll's head and dropping it on its head, knocking him down. A second later, the troll was out cold on the floor, Harry's wand still stuck in its nose. 

They stayed still for a minute, not daring to move. 

"Is it... Dead?" Hermione finally asked. 

"I don't think so" Harry answered, "Just knocked out." he went to take back his wand, getting it out of the troll's nose. "Ugh" Harry exclaimed, "Troll's bogies."

"That is disgusting" Octavia grunted, "Clarke, you're hurt?" She asked, now seeing that Clarke was holding one arm close to her body.

"It's nothing" Clarke answered, "A piece of wood just went flying into my arm". 

As Octavia was going to reach for her friend's arm and check it, Lexa was faster, moving by Clarke's side in a second. 

"Let me see" She ordered, not waiting for Clarke's permission and taking her hand into her own, turning her arm over so she could examinate it. 

Clarke had a small wound on her arm, nothing too deep, but which would probably still require a couple of stiches to close it up. 

"Can't you stay out of trouble?" Lexa said, sounding... _Mad_ at Clarke?

Clarke was going to answer, when teachers came rushing into the room, probably having heard the fight. Minerva Mcgonagall was the first one into the room, closely followed by Snape and Quirrell, still shaking. 

"Oh my godness" professor Mcgonagall said, taking in the sight of Ron, Hermione, Harry, Octavia, Clarke and Lexa all standing amongst debris of the now destroyed girls' bathroom, surrounding a knocked-out troll. "Explain yourselves!" The progessor ordered, still quite in shock. 

"Well..." Harry and Ron started explaining, but they were cut off by Hermione. 

"It was my fault, professor" Hermione said, under her friends' surprised looks. 

"Miss Granger...?" Mcgonagall asked, surprised and a bit disappointed. 

"Mine, too" Clarke came to the rescue, "We went looking for the troll."

"I've read about them" Hermione continued in her lie, "I thought we could tame it. I was wrong". 

"And if Harry, Ron, Octavia and Lexa hadn't come find us" Clarke added, sending a pointed look to her friends, telling them to go along with it, "We'd probably be dead." 

"It was an extremely foolish thing to do" Mcgonagall said, now looking angry, "And I would have expected more rational behaviors from of both of your parts" She said, looking at Clarke and Hermione. "Five points each will be taken out of Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment."

She then looked over at Harry, Ron and Octavia. "As for you three" She told them, "Well I just hope you realise how fortunate you are. Not many first years students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points will be awarded to each of you. For sheer dumb luck."

Finally, she spotted Lexa, standing her back straight and her head held high. "And what were you doing here, Miss Woods? You should be with the rest of Slytherin house, back in your dormitories."

"I saw the three Gryffindor run into the corridors" Lexa answered, as stoic as ever. "I figured they would do something reckless, so I followed them."

Severus Snape narrowed his eyes at her, knowing it was his duty to set the girl's punishment. "Five points will be taken out of Slytherin" Snape said as if it was burning his lips to say the words, "For your disobedience. I would have taken more points, but it seems like you helped deal with the troll."

Lexa nodded, taking the punishment. 

Mcgonagall and Snape left the room, as Quirrell was gesturing to the children. "It's better if you go" He said, waving at them, "It might wake up". 

And the group of students were off to their dormitories, still trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you can see, I'm trying to mix both universes, so sometimes I'm taking dialogues or facts from the books/movies, but sometimes I'm modifying Harry Potter's universe to better fit my story... So don't worry if some things aren't really like they are in the books. ;)


	9. Cerberus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their encounter with the troll, Hermione becomes friend with Harry and Ron. Lexa and Clarke always seem to run into each other. The gang tries to resolve some mysteries. Anya and Lexa have conversations way too cryptic.

** Chapter 9 : Cerberus**

After their encounter with the troll, Hermione became friend with Harry and Ron, the three of them beginning to form an inseparable trio, and Clarke was glad for Hermione. 

They were studying into Hogwarts' Library, as Clarke couldn't wrap her mind around Lexa's words. _"Your magic won't let you live long if you don't improve quickly",_ Lexa had said. What was that supposed to mean? And why did Clarke had the feeling like Lexa knew a lot more than she was letting on? The more Clarke was thinking about it, the more she noticed how Lexa seemed to always know where they were. Where _she_ was, as if she was watching them, all day long. 

In fact, Lexa _had_ saved their lifes, a couple of days ago, freezing up the troll on spot. What was that spell she had used, anyways? Charms was Clarke's favorite class, so she would have remembered if this spell was in their lessons. 

Frowning, Clarke took out her book _The Standart book of Spells, grade one_ and began rummaging through the pages, trying to find the spell Lexa had used. What was it again? Clarke tried to remember what words Lexa had phrased, stupefaxio... Stupadixio....

" _Stupefy_ " It was finally Hermione who brought the answer, dropping another book in front of Clarke, Ron and Harry in toes. 

"That's not it" Clarke frowned, "It sounded more like..."

" _Stupefix_ " Hermione nodded, "I know, it's the french version of the spell." 

"So Lexa's french?" Octavia asked. 

"It seems so" Hermione explained, "I've looked into what Raven had found on the Woods family tree, and it looks like a branch of it escaped to France, at the same time Salazar Slytherin quitted Hogwarts". 

"But if she's french, why would she come to Hogwarts?" Clarke asked, not understanding, "My mother told me there was a wizard school in France. Why not go there?"

"I have no idea" Hermione shrugged, "But one thing is certain; Lexa's been doing advanced magic" She showed them on the book, "this _stupefy_ trick isn't learn by students before third of fourth year." 

Clarke looked at the book. Who was this girl, to be able to do magic that was only taught to students four years older? 

* * *

Clarke was heading for the common room for diner when she ran into someone, both knocking them on the floor. 

"I'm sorry" Clarke immediately got on her feet, offering her hand to help the other stand up without having seen who she had ran into. 

"Lexa" Clarke said, surprised, as the girl was sporting a deep frown on her face, probably upset to have ended up on the floor because of the blonde. 

"Be careful" Lexa hissed, patting away Clarke's hand and refusing her help to get up, "Can't you look where you're going?"

"I am sorry" Clarke scoffed in return, getting angry with Lexa's behavior, "I didn't _mean_ to run into you. in fact, I would rather avoid you as much as I can". Clarke said, the words leaving her mouth to quickly for her to stop them. 

"I would prefer not to suffer your company either" Lexa huffed back. 

Clarke snorted, picking up the books she had dropped on the floor and started walking away. 

"Clarke, wait" Lexa sighed, calling the girl up. 

"What?" 

"How is your arm?" 

"My arm?" Clarke frowned, not understanding what Lexa was talking about. 

"The one you injured. The other day, with the troll" Lexa added. 

"Oh!" Clarke said, surprised Lexa would even care about this, after today's behavior. "I'm fine."

Lexa nodded, almost to herself, and then walked away. 

Clarke stayed still for a few seconds, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. Did Lexa actually _cared_ about her? Why could she act like a bitch all the time and the minute after, care for Clarke's injuries? 

Shaking her head, Clarke resumed her walking towards the great hall where the others waited for her. 

* * *

"A _troll_ , Lexa?" Anya scolded her, "Seriously? What were you thinking?"

"I didn't actually have time to _think_ , Anya" Lexa rolled her eyes, getting annoyed by her cousin, "I saw them leave their group and Clarke missed diner, I figured they were going to fetch her, wherever she was". 

"It could have gone badly" Anya frowned, "You're aware of that, right? What if one of them understands you used fourth grade magic? What if one of the teachers finds out you're too powerful for a first year?"

"It won't happen" Lexa hissed, "I am careful."

"Yeah you're not very good at that then" Anya scoffed back, "Because jumping in front of an adult troll is _not_ being careful."

"And what was I supposed to do then?" Lexa raised her voice, "Leave her? Risk her getting hurt? You know I can't do that". Lexa began pacing into her dorm. 

Anya sighed. They both were too young to be dealing with matters like this already. 

"I know you feel like she's your responsibility" Anya sat on the bed, trying to calm the atmosphere down. "But Lexa, she doesn't know anything about her own history. Right now, she is _not_ the person you believe she is." Anya explained. "She needs to learn. She needs time. Don't be hard on her, but don't protect her. She is strong, you know how strong she will be, in a few years. She just needs time to get there."

Lexa nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Anya was right. Clarke knew nothing about her past, about what and who she was. And she needed to learn about it, but Lexa couldn't treat her like she had had the same education as herself all her childhood. 

"She will get there eventually" Anya offered a gentle smile to her cousin. "Not everything is inevitable."

"You keep repeating that" Lexa answered, "But here I am. As Clarke and Harry are." 

"But that is just the beginning of the story" Anya shrugged. "The rest is up to us."

Lexa nodded, trying to believe in her cousin's words. 

"You'll spend seven years in Hogwarts , Lexa" Anya finally said, getting up and picking up her bag from the floor, as she had class in a couple of minutes, "You'll need her by your side, not against you."

And she left, leaving her cousin lost deep in her thoughts. 

* * *

After diner, Octavia and Clarke went straight to the Gryffindor Tower as Raven and Hermione were talking about some stuff they had read in advanced books. Ron and Harry were staying with them, as Ron was finishing explaining Quiddich's rules to Harry as their first match of the season was approaching. 

After an hour, the four of them were yawning, finally ready to go to bed, and began walking into the castle, heading for their respective dorms. 

Suddenly, the stairs they were on started moving and changed directions. 

"What's happening?" Ron asked, gripping the ramps as the staircase was turning. 

"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione said, echoeing Percy's words from their first day at Hogwarts. 

"Let's go this way" Harry gestured them forwards once the staircase had stopped. 

"Yeah, before the staircase moves again" Ron scoffed, suddenly angry at the magic world. 

"I usually love magic" Raven added, "But now... not so much". 

They hastily climbed the couple of steps left and pushed the door they had arrived in front of. 

It was dark and dusty; suddenly, they had a bad feeling settling in their guts. 

"Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be here...?" Ron murmured, as their eyes were wandering around the discovered corridors where statues of monsters were sitting over and there. 

"We're not _supposed_ to be here" Hermione nodded, "This is the third floor, it's forbidden"

"Crap" Raven sighed, knowing they had, once again, put themselves into a bad position. as if sensing their presence, lights were gradually lighting up as they were walking by.

"Let's go" Harry said, but suddenly a mew resonated into the corridor, making them jump and turn over to the sound. 

"It's Filch's cat" Hermione recognised the cat. 

"Run!" Harry rushed them forwards. If Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, was here, then her master wasn't too far away, and after the troll episode they couldn't afford to get caught in a forbidden area of the castle. 

They arrived in front a door. "Quick, let's head for that door!" Raven showed them, looking behind them a couple of times as they were running. 

Ron was first on the handle, trying to get it open. 

"It's locked!" 

"Oh, move over!" Hermione sighed, pushed the boys out of the way and getting her wand out. 

" _Alohomora_ " Hermione said, as the other three were watching in surprise the locked door open. 

They all rushed to the other side of the door. 

"Alohomora?" Ron asked. 

"Standar book of spells, chapter 7" Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"I swear" Raven mumbled, "You and Clarke are made to be friends". 

They waited a few moments to be sure Filch wasn't looking after them. 

"He's gone" Hermione sighed, relieved, once they had heard him walk away. 

"Why do you think this door's locked?" Ron asked. 

" _Was_ locked" Hermione corrected him. 

"And for good reason" Harry murmured, looking at what they were facing. 

A giant three headed-dog stood just a few feet from them, starting to wake up, and visibly _not_ happy to see them here. 

"Aaaaaaaaah!" The four of them screamed, rushing to get out of the room and wrestling to close the door behind them, as all three heads were trying to get them. 

Finally, they managed to close the door and quickly got out of the forbidden floor, heading for their towers. 

"What do they think they're doing?" Ron explained on the way, "Keeping a thing like that, locked up in a _school_ !" 

"This is pretty fucked up" Raven quickly agreed, "Even for a Wizardry school". 

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" Hermione retorted, rolling her eyes once more, "Did you see what is was standing on?"

"I wasn't looking at his feet" Ron replicated, "I was a bit preoccupied with its heads, or maybe _you_ didn't notice ? There're _three_!"

"It was standing on a trap door" Hermione explained, "Which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something" She told them. 

"Guarding something?" Harry frowned. 

"That's right. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed" Hermione stated. "Or worse, expelled." And she was off into the Gryffindor tower, heading for her dorm. 

"She needs to sort out her priorities" Ron sighed, once Hermione was gone. 

"Clearly" Raven raised her eyebrows. "I'm going back to my own tower. Tonight was... Fun?" Raven said to the boys. 

"Fun or not, I am not looking for more run-in with creatures like that. A troll and a three-headed dog were more than enough for me" Harry chuckled. 

Raven hummed, waving goodbye and walking away. 

"Come on, let's get to bed" Ron told Harry. 

* * *

"A three headed-dog?" Clarke raised her eyebrows at Harry the next morning, as he, Ron and Hermione were telling them about their run-in with the creature from the night before over breakfast, "You're sure?"

"Yes, pretty sure Clarke" Ron rolled his eyes. "Ask Raven, she was there too."

"It's like Cerberus" Octavia said, "My brother used to read to me about mythology."

"Cerberus?" Harry asked. 

"It's a three headed-dog, he guards Hell's door" Octavia explained. 

"Again, who would keep such a creature in the school?" Ron huffed. 

Clarke shrugged; it was a magic school, and she was beginning to think anything was possible. 

Then, owls noises could be heard all over the great hall as birds were coming flying into the room, dropping letters and packaging over the students. 

"oh, mail's here" Ron smiled, opening his hands to receive his letters and a newspaper. 

"Can I borrow this?" Harry asked, taking the newspaper. Ron nodded his agreement. 

For a few minutes, every student was head down into letters from their relatives. 

"Clarke, Octavia" Hermione frowned, "You didn't got mail?"

"Bellamy is my only family" Octavia shrugged, "With those two" She told Hermione, talking about Clarke and Raven.

"And my mother and I aren't very close" Clarke shrugged too, "I don't think she would know what to say anyways. It's ok, we're used to it". 

Hermione nodded, getting back to her parents' letters. 

* * *

At Slytherin's table, Lexa was opening Titus' letter. 

"So, what does the old man have to say to you?" Anya asked. 

"Nothing important" Lexa sighed. 

"I bet this letter is full of warnings" Anya raised a brow. 

Lexa hummed, running over her tutor's words. "He mostly wants to know how my progression."

"Lexa, you're doing magic way too advanced for your age already" Anya scoffed, "You will have time to learn over the years, he doesn't need to be pushing you like this, after only a couple of months at the school."

"It's his job, Anya" Lexa only answered, "He only does what he is here for."

"Maybe" Anya replicated, "But you're _eleven._ Doing fifteen years old students' magic should be more than enough."

"It will never be enough" Lexa murmured, putting the letter back into its envelope. "And you know it."

"We'll see about that" Anya hummed, getting back to her breakfast. 

* * *

"Hey guys, somebody broke into Gringotts" Harry told them, reading the newspaper. 

"Gringotts" Clarke cut them, "Is...?"

"The wizard bank" Octavia explained, "Where wizards keep their money." 

Clarke nodded as a thank you. 

"Listen" Harry said, reading the article at loud, "Believed to be the work of a unkown dark witch or wizard, Gringotts' goblins, while aknowledging the breach, insist nothing was stolen. The vault in question number 713 had, in fact, been emptied the very same day." Harry finished reading. "That's odd. That's the vault Hagrid and I went to."

Not having any answers, the group all returned to their breakast before heading to class. 

* * *

It was potions' class again, Clarke's least favorite course, as she was not lookinf forward to see neither Snape nor Lexa, with whom she was paired since the first lesson. Today, they had to make some kind of potion Clarke didn't understand anything about; but Lexa, head stuck in her book, seemed to be thinking and learning everything at a very fast pace. 

"Clarke, give me the spoon" Lexa asked, holding her hand at Clarke. 

Clarke scoffed, passing the spoon to Lexa as she was stirring whatever they were making into the cauldron. 

"This is supposed to be a team effort" Clarke said, noticing how Lexa wasn't communicating with her to prepare the potion; it has already been an hour and half of class, and Lexa had been doing everything on her own. 

"This would be a team effort if every party was helpful" Lexa retorted, not even wasting a second to look at Clarke while talking to her. "But I don't think you're very good at potions."

Clarke huffed. Really, what was her problem?

"I am sorry if I ever did something to offend you" Clarke talked back, sitting down as she was officially fed up with the girl and her attitude, "But you don't need to be a _bitch_ about it."

Lexa flinched; although so discreetly that Clarke almost missed it. But before Lexa could answer, class was over and Clarke was long gone, leaving Lexa at their table. 

Lexa sighed, putting her stuff back in her bag and heading for the library. 

* * *

Clarke, Raven and Octavia were sitting down in the library as Octavia nudged Clarke.

"Lexa's here" She told her. 

"I swear, this girl spends her time in books" Raven said. 

Clarke hummed, not really wanting to talk about Lexa. 

The girls got their assignments out, starting to work on it. After a few hours, Raven was off with her Ravenclaw friends to another class, while Octavia and Clarke had still a few hours before their next class, flying lessons with Madam Hooch. 

Clarke sighed, now completely bored with studying, starting to look everywhere else than towards her work. 

"C, focus" Octavia said, amused at her friend's bored antics. 

"I can't concentrate anymore, I'm fed up with reading books" Clarke sighed once more, closing her papers on their table. "I think I'll just go for a quick walk, alright? I'll be back in 30'". 

Octavia nodded, getting back in her book. 

Clarke got up and started randomly walking in the corridors, exploring Hogwarts. Her steps quickly took her to the lake's shore, which she had yet never seen by day; Clarke whistled, only now taking notice of how big the lake was. No wonder they had to cross it on small boats, when they first arrived at the school !

Checking her old watch for the time - not wanting to miss her next class - Clarke sat by the water, enjoying the quiet and the winter sun warming her face. 

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the footsteps coming in her direction, nor did she notice the person leaning on a tree behind her. 

"That's Hogwarts quiter place" The person said, making Clarke jump a little at the unexpected sound. 

Clarke quickly turned around towards the voice's direction; Lexa was leaning her back on a tree, arms crossed over her chest as she was holding a couple of books. Her hair was loose, way longer than Clarke could have guessed as the brunette's hair was always up in a bun or a braid. Dressed in her long black winter coat, with only Slytherin's green coat of arms on it, matching with her green eyes, Clarke surprised herself by thinking that Lexa was actually now looking like her own age; like she was only an eleven year old student, learning magic for the first time. 

Well, Clarke was not so sure about that actually, as Hermione had told them not later than this morning that the girl was doing advanced magic. 

"I can see that" Clarke only hummed to Lexa, not wanting to start another fight with the girl; especially in this peaceful place. 

Clarke heard her shift position, and didn't react when Lexa went to sit on a rock, a few feet away from Clarke. The blonde waited a few moments, trying to see if Lexa had followed her on purpose and was about to talk, or if it was just a coincidence they had found themselves in the same spot at the same time. Which probably _wasn't_. 

"I brought you this" Lexa finally said, holding a book out for Clarke to take. 

Clarke curiously took it, reading the cover. _Chadwick's Charms_ , by Chadwick Boot. "That's a grade one book" Clarke frowned, "But not... Hogwarts' ?" 

"It's Ilvermorny's" Lexa nodded. "The North-american school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." 

"How come you have one of those?" Clarke asked, opening the book and browsing through the pages. 

"My tutor gave it to me" Lexa shrugged. "For Charms school." 

"Charms school?" Clarke asked again. 

"It's like a pre-school for wizards, before entering Hogwarts. Or whatever wizard school." Lexa explained. 

"Why give this to me?" Clarke frowned, suddenly feeling like Lexa hadn't say everything she came here to say. 

"You could learn a thing or two" Lexa stated, getting up. "See you later, Clarke". 

And Clarke was left alone again, frowning. Why would Lexa give her such a book? Was she mocking her for a lack of knowledge on the magic world, or was this a genuine move so Clarke could improve? 

Clarke shook her head, seeing she had been gone for almost an hour. Quickly, she lightly jogged back to the castle, not wanting Octavia to worry about her being away too long. After all their run-ins with creatures, they were not completely at ease to wander around on their own. After all, it seemed like they had a tendency to always be at the wrong place at the wrong moment. 

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly; they had a flying lesson in the late afternoon, where they could see Harry had been training for tomorrow's quidditch match; he was good on a broom, better than almost everyone on their class. Even Hermione wasn't that good; but she didn't seem to be that interested in riding broomsticks, so Clarke was guessing it was ok. 

Clarke herself was getting better at it, and was surprised by it as Madam Hooch congratulated her for her progress. Riding a broomstick seemed to be coming naturally to her, and Clarke was relieved it would be something wouldn't have to work her ass off from A to Z to get it. 

Octavia, too, wasn't so bad, and slowly they were actually starting to learn and remember stuff they were studying in class. 

It was coming as a big breath of fresh air for Clarke, who was now only starting to think she could actually be a wizard like everybody else at the school. 

* * *

The next morning, they were all seated at Gryffindor's table for breakfast once more. 

"Eat Harry; you'll need strength today" Hermione nudged him, as he wasn't eating his food. Today was the first quidditch match of the season, and Harry, the new seeker, was very stressed about it. There had never be a first-year seeker, actually no first-years had ever been part of the quidditch team, Ron had told them when Harry got in. Then, Hermione had found out about Harry's father, James, being part of the quidditch team back when he was studying at Hogwarts, putting a bit of confidence back in Harry, telling him it was in its blood. 

"I'm not hungry" Harry mumbled, toying his breakfast with his fork. 

"How's your arm, Clarke?" Hermione then asked the girl. 

"Oh, fine" Clarke smiled, "Only required a couple of stitches. Aska here" She chuckled, looking at her dog, "Whined the whole process. It was almost as Madam Pomfrey was stitching _him_ instead". 

"Your dog's weird" Ron said, sipping his tea. 

"You own a _rat_ " Clarke answered back. 

"Not so weird actually" Hermione started, "I read that..." But she was cut off by Snape, standing behind them. 

"Good luck today, Potter" Snape said, "But then again, looking how you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you" He ironically told Harry. "Even if it is against Slytherin." And the professor walked off, limping. 

"That explains the blood..." Harry murmured, watching Snape walk away. 

"Blood?" Hermione said. 

"When the troll got into the dungeons" Octavia remembered, "Snape had blood on his leg. Like something had bitten him, or hurt him in some way."

"Listen" Harry told his friends, "I'm guessing Snape let the troll into the dungeons as a diversion, so he could try to get past that three headed-dog" He explained, "But he got himself bitten; that's why he's limping." 

"But why would anyone get near that dog?" Hermione frowned. 

"The day I was at Gringotts with Hagrid, we went to take something from one of the vaults; he said it was Hogwarts' business, very secret."

"So you're saying..." Hermione trailed off. 

"That's what the dog is guarding. That's what Snape wants." Harry concluded. 

Then, an owl was flying into the room, carrying something. 

"Who's that?" Clarke asked, watching as Aska was suddenly getting excited and was waving his tail around. 

"That's Hedwig, my owl" Harry murmured, a bit confused about why she was flying towards them, carrying some kind of package. 

Then, the owl dropped it over Harry, who catched it. 

"A bit late for mail, isn't it?" Hermione frowned, watching the package Harry had gotten. 

"But... I never get mail" Harry answered. 

"Open, then!" Octavia encouraged him. 

They helped him open the package, revealing a brand-new broomstick. 

"It's a broomstick" Harry said in awe. 

"That's not _just_ a broomstick" Ron explained, "It's a Nimbus 2000!"

"A what now?" Clarke raised her eyebrows, not familiar with broomsticks brands. 

"That the newest and coolest broomstick ever!" Octavia said, "I've seen it in the Broom shop in Diagon Alley". 

"But I thought first years couldn't get their own broomsticks" Clarke frowned. 

"Well in theory, they can't" Hermione shrugged, "But as Harry is now on the Quidditch team, I guess the rules could be bent..."

"But who..." Harry trailed off, looking around. Then, he spotted professor Mcgonagall petting Hedwig, he knew. 

"Woaw" Octavia hummed, "Mcgonagall must really have taken a liking to you Harry. First, she doesn't expel you after the flying class incident, then she gets you into the Quidditch team, and now, she gives you this wonder of a broomstick?" 

"Maybe _now_ we've got a real chance to win" Oliver, Gryffindor quidditch team's captain said to Harry, sitting a few spots away. "It's been years since we've won the Quidditch Cup, and Mcgonagall would love to see us crush Slytherin." 

"Yeah?" Clarke chuckled, looking at the professor. 

"Oh yeah" Fred confirmed, "Mcgonagall was in the Quidditch Team, back in her days." 

"Yep" Georges nodded, "And a good player, too."

Clarke hummed, as they all returned to their meal. 


	10. Christmas in Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hagrid doesn't do well with secrets. Who's Nicolas Flamel? It's Christmas time in Hogwarts and there're some unexpected gifts. A duo leaves on a trip.

** Chapter 10 : Christmas in Hogwarts  **

Gryffindor had won their Quidditch match against Slytherin! Harry had managed to catch the golden snitch - well, more like he had _swallowed_ it, but all the same Gryffindor had won the game in the end. 

They almost hadn't, though; Harry's broomstick started getting jinxed half-way into the match, and he had almost fell down a few times. 

Clarke, Octavia, Ron and Hermione, standing in Gryffindor's stands, had quickly noticed Snape mumbling spells. Hermione, as smart as she was, had managed to distract him by putting his cape of fire with an _Incendio_ spell, effectively ending Snape's magic grip on Harry's broom, keeping him from a bad fall. 

So now the four of them, along with Raven that had met them after the game, wanting explanations about Harry's almost fall, had been off to seek answers from Hagrid and voice their suspicions. 

"Nonsense" Hagrid huffed, "Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Who knows?" Harry sarcastically said, "Why would he also want to pass that three headed-dog back to Halloween?" 

"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid frowned. 

" _Fluffy_?" Ron said. 

"That _thing_ has a name?" Hermione added, grimacing. 

"This is going to be good" Raven grinned, talking to Clarke. Clarke shook her head; why Raven had taken a liking to every weird magic creature, she didn't know. 

"Well of course he's got a name" Hagrid replicated, "He's mine! I bought him off an irish fellow I met in a pub last year" Hagrid explained, "And then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the..."

"Yes?" Hermione urged him forwards, trying to gain answers. 

"I shouldn't have said that" Hagrid mumbled. "No more questions!" He pointed his finger at them, "Don't ask any more questions. That is top secret."

"But Hagrid" Harry tried again, "Whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape wants to steal it."

"Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher" Hagrid denied. 

"Hogwarts teacher or not" Hermione scoffed, "I _know_ a spell when I see one. I've read all about them!"

"Raven, _don't_ " Clarke whispered to her friend, who seemed ready to make some comments about Hermione being top of the class once again. 

"You've got to keep eye contact" Hermione recited, "And Snape wasn't _blinking_."

"That's true, Hagrid" Clarke confirmed, as Harry was nodding along too, "They taught us about it in Charms Class the other day". 

"Now you listen to me very carefully, all of you" He said, pointing at each of them, "You are meddling in things that are not to be meddle with. It's dangerous" He gave them a stern look, hoping they would listen to his words. "What that dog is guarding is strickly between professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

"Nicolas Flamel?" Octavia repeated, looking at the others to see if the name rang some bells. 

"I shouldn't have said that. I should _not_ have said that" Hagrid mumbled again, slowly walking away and going back towards his little hut. 

"Nicolas Flamel" Harry murmured, watching Hagrid get away. "Who's Nicolas Flamel?"

"I don't know" Hermione admitted, as the rest of them were shrugging their shoulders. 

* * *

"I can't believe it's named _Fluffy_ " Hermione huffed, browsing through some books. "There's nothing fluffy about it."

"I don't know" Raven huffed, head stuck in a book too, "I found it kind of cool". 

"I have not seen it" Octavia objected, "But even _I_ know that this... Creature, isn't _cool._ What is wrong with you, woman?"

Raven stuck her tongue out at Octavia, as Clarke was rolling her eyes at her friends' antics and perpetual banter. 

"Nothing on this book either" Hermione sighed, closing it. "Any chance?" She asked her friends. 

They all shook their heads no, not having had more luck than her in finding something about this mysterious Nicolas Flamel. 

"Clarke, what's this book?" Hermione then asked the Blonde, seeing she was reading a book she had never seen the cover before. 

"Oh, hum... _Chadwick's Charms_ , volume I" Clarke answered. "Lexa gave it to me."

" _Lexa_ gave it to you?" Raven frowned, "The Slytherin girl?" 

"Yeah" Clarke hummed, turning the book over so Hermione could take a look at it.

"It is not a british book" Hermione noticed, "It's... American?"

"It seems like it" Clarke nodded again, "I believe it's a book students need for their first year in Ilvermorny school?" 

"Ilvermorny?" Harry questionned. 

"The North-american school" Ron explained. "It's not a very old one". 

"Newt Scamander went to that school" Hermione told them, thoughtful as she was browsing through Clarke's book's pages. 

"Oh, I know him!" Raven exclaimed, proud of herself, "He wrote fantastic beasts!"

Hermione nodded in agreement - because of course she would already know a bunch of things about first years' required books' authors - giving the book back to Clarke. "Why would she give it to you?"

"I honestly don't know" Clarke shrugged. "One day, in potions class, she told me I needed to improve. And then she gave me this" Clarke pointed to the book, "Told me I could _learn a thing or two_ " Clarke quoted Lexa's words. 

"She's weird" Raven said. 

They all nodded, not really knowing what to think about the girl. 

* * *

Christmas' holidays were upon them, and most of the students were busy packing up their things. Hagrid had brought a massive tree from the forbidden forest, and now professor Flitwick was dressing it with Christmas decorations, helped by a bunch of students including Raven and Octavia, once again bantering, this time about where to put the golden ornaments. 

Hermione came into the great hall, trailing her suitcase behind her. Harry and Ron were facing each other, playing some kind of chess, while Clarke was watching them play. 

"Knight to E5" Harry said, focused into the game as the pawn moved itself to the indicated spot. 

Ron seemed to think very hard for a moment, and then announced his move. "Queen to E5" He said, proud of himself. 

On the board, the Queen pawn moved and approached Harry's King. Suddenly, the pawn took its own chair and slammed into the King's piece, breaking it into pieces. 

"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione frowned. 

"That's wizards' chess" ron shrugged, having played this game all his life. "I see you've packed" He then noticed Hermione's suitcase. 

"I see you _haven't_ " Hermione answered back. 

"Change of plans" Ron explained, "My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there!" 

"How many brothers do you got already?" Clarke asked, lost with all the names. 

"Four" Ron chuckled. 

"What about you Clarke?" Hermione then asked the blonde. 

"Didn't feel like going home" Clarke shrugged. "Octavia and Raven are leaving though, after they're finished with the tree." 

"Good" Hermione said, "You can both help Harry then. He's going to go into the library for information on Nicolas Flamel". 

"But we've looked a hundred times" Clarke protested. 

"Not in the restricted section..." Hermione trailed off. "Happy christmas" She waved goodbye at them. 

They watched her walk away for a bit, before Ron sighed. "I think we've bad influence on her."

Clarke couldn't disagree with that. 

* * *

An hour later, Octavia and Raven were ready to leave, too. 

"You're sure you'll be fine on your own?" Octavia asked again to the blonde, "You could still come home with Bellamy and I". 

"Sinclair already told me you could come with me, too" Raven nodded. 

"I'll be fine" Clarke chuckled, "I'll spend time reading. There're some questions I want answers to."

"Alright" Octavia sighed, opening her arms to hug her friend. "Take care, ok? We'll see you in two weeks."

Clarke smiled at them, then going to hug Raven too. 

"Happy Christmas" Clarke told them as they were leaving the castle. 

Once alone, Clarke sighed. What was she going to do, now?

* * *

Clarke and Aska were sitting on Gryffindor common room's couch as the blonde was reading Lexa's book again, thinking at the same time about this Nicolas Flamel that seemed to hold some kind of importance. 

Sighing and her eyes beginning to hurt after hours of reading, Clarke decided to go for a walk outside, as the snow had finally stopped falling down. 

"Come on boy" She told Aska to follow her as she was quickly going upstairs to grab her gloves, scarf and winter coat. 

Once outside, Clarke shivered as a light wind was brushing through the trees. She appeared to be the only one out; only a few students had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas break, and most of them were probably somewhere warm. 

Clarke wandered around for a bit, being careful not to trail too far away from the castle, in case snow decided to fall down again and she had to cut her walk short. 

After an hour-walk, Clarke was freezing, and even Aska seemed to have had enough of being outside. They got back into the castle, Clarke quickly walking to warm herself up. 

Suddenly, Clarke ran into someone at the corner of a corridor, almost knocking them, but dropping her bag which content got spilled on the floor. 

"Clarke" The person stated. 

"Oh" Clarke said, surprised. "Lexa."

How Clarke had managed to run into Lexa once again, she didn't know. 

"I didn't think..." Clarke started, not expecting Lexa to have stayed during the holidays, "I thought you went back home."

"Well, you can see that I did not" Lexa answered, then looked at Clarke and her stuff, dispersed on the floor all around them. 

"Oh, right" Clarke said, getting down to pick up her things. To her surprise, Lexa got down on one knee too, picking up stuff and holding them up to Clarke so she could put them back into her bag. 

"What's that for?" Lexa then frowned, picking up a piece of paper. 

Clarke looked at it, recognizing Hermione's hand-written list of books which could perhaps have answers about Nicolas Flamel. 

"Are you _that_ passionate of alchemy?" Lexa half-chuckled, half-scoffed, going through the long list. 

"Alchemy?" it was Clarke's turn to ask. 

"Well yes" Lexa said as if Clarke was dumb, "Nicolas Flamel is like... The _father_ of Alchemy. All those books are about alchemists and stuff related to this kind of magic science."

"Oh" Clarke just said, finally having the answer about this man. 

"Why are you looking into this?" The brunette asked again, handing the list to Clarke who quickly put it away. 

"None of your business" Clarke said. It was not meant to hurt Lexa on purpose, but Clarke suddenly saw some kind of... _sadness_ , into Lexa's eyes...? 

But it was gone a second later, and Clarke could have imagined it. 

Lexa looked at the blonde one last time, and was gone. Clarke sighed, gesturing for Aska to go forward as she starting heading to the great hall, figuring it was time for lunch. On the way, she began to wonder how Lexa could have known about Nicolas Flamel, or even about _Alchemy_. Was that even a course they were teaching in Hogwarts?

* * *

For christmas, it was tradition that the remaining students would all eat at the same table, regardless of the houses they belonged to. Even the teachers staying in Hogwarts would put themselves at the end of the shared table, leaving their usual area and joining the students for the occasion. 

Clarke let her eyes wander around, noting as very few Slytherins had chosen to stay at the school for the holidays. 

"My father say it's because most of Slytherins think they don't really _need_ to school to learn about magic" Ron explained once Clarke had voiced her observations, "They only come to Hogwarts to parade around and show that they got into Slytherin."

Clarke hummed. Then, she noticed Lexa, sitting alone, as two hufflepuff students seemed to be bothering her and telling her things Clarke was pretty sure weren't compliments. Clarke pondered in her head whether she should intervene, but her consciousness got the better of her in the head. 

She quickly got up, Aska on her heels, and closed the distance between them, putting herself between Lexa and the two boys. 

"Leave her alone" Clarke ordered, scowling at them. 

First unimpressed, the two hufflepuffs students quickly backtracked when they noticed Aska baring his teeth at them. "Woaw ok we'll stop" One of them raised his hands as an apology, "But don't throw that _thing_ at us". 

Clarke scoffed, gesturing for them to go away. Then, she turned around, to find out Lexa looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face. 

"What?" Clarke asked, not knowing what to say, "They were idiots". 

Lexa stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, and then nodded. "Thank you, Clarke."

"Yeah" Clarke sighed, looking at Aska, who was nudging Lexa with his nose. "Aska, stop it" Clarke said, but Lexa was shaking her head. 

"It's ok, he doesn't bother me" Lexa told her, petting Aska's head. 

Clarke still couldn't wrap her head around this; how in the hell was Aska letting be pet by someone else? Why _Lexa_ , of all people? Clarke sighed again, telling herself it wouldn't be the first and only time where Aska would bring up questions; he was a magical creature, after all. 

Clarke started to walk back towards where Harry and Ron were seated, but then stopped, and turned around to Lexa once again. 

"Do you want to come sit with us, maybe?" Clarke asked, already preparing herself for rejection. 

"I..." Lexa seemed surprised by the invitation, "I don't know them."

"I can introduce you" Clarke shrugged. "No one should sit alone for Christmas."

Lexa thought about it, and finally nodded, getting up and following Clarke back to the boys. 

"Harry, Ron, this is Lexa" Clarke introduced them. "Lexa, Harry and Ron" She then pointed to the boys. 

"Hi Lexa" Harry politely acknowledged her, even though he didn't really understand why Clarke would bring her, after everything she had told them about Lexa's behavior in potions class. 

"So how come you stayed?" Ron asked the brunette, blunt as ever. "Where's your cousin?"

"Anya went home to her parents" Lexa said. "I will leave tomorrow."

"Leave?" Ron asked again, "Where to?"

"A trip" Lexa answered, not really wanting to talk about it. "To France". 

"Oh so you _are_ french" The words escaped Clarke's mouth before she could even think about what they implied. 

Lexa immediately noticed, of course. "How do you know that?" She frowned, suddenly getting defensive. 

"Bellamy might have told me" Clarke lied, praying that the two boys wouldn't say something completely opposed, "He is Slytherin. Like Anya."

Lexa hummed, already knowing that her cousin had the Blake boy as one of her housemates. 

Finally sensing that Lexa didn't seem to want to talk about herself, Ron dropped the questioning, focusing instead on the food in front of him and ranting to Harry aout all christmas meals Hogwarts had had over the years. 

Keeping quiet, but still listening, Lexa couldn't help but throw quick glances at Clarke from time to time. Clarke had noticed, of course, but had chosen to ignore it. She knew something was up with - or about - the brunette, and she also knew it had something to do with herself. She had questions, but she would have to wait until Lexa and her were alone to addess them. 

* * *

They had spent all their day in the great hall, playing wizards board games and chatting and reading books when the girls decided it was time to call it a night. Harry and Ron weren't tired yet, so they told Clarke they would see her in the morning - For christmas d-day. 

They had said their goodbyes, and Clarke and Lexa had left the great hall together, heading for their respective dorms. 

They stayed silent as they were walking in the corridors, only surrounded by the ghosts getting ready for tomorrow and Aska's light steps on the flagstones. 

Surprisingly, it was Lexa who broke the silence first. 

"You have questions" She stated. She wasn't asking; she had noticed the thousand wheels running into Clarke's mind, fully knowing it was her doing. 

"Yeah" Clarke confirmed. Lexa only nodded, and Clarke took it as a confirmation to ask her many questions. 

"You seem to know a lot about me." Clarke said. 

"Is that a question?" Lexa raised a brow. 

"I want to know why" Clarke corrected herself. 

Lexa didn't answer straight away, trying to figure out the best way to answer to her without telling her what she was not supposed to know yet, and without lying to much about it. 

"Some people know about you, indeed" Lexa hummed. 

"But _why_ , Lexa?" Clarke was getting frustrated, "I'm not like Harry, I don't have two famous parents who fought _you-know-who_ , and I don't have a lighting bold shaped scar on my forehead."

Lexa knew she wouldn't be able to lie, listening to Clarke get upset about being left in the dark. And maybe Anya was right about some things. Not everything was inevitable. Maybe with Clarke by her side, maybe they could change things. 

"I'm just... Muggle-born" Clarke finally stopped talking, looking a bit defeated. 

"Except you're not" Lexa murmured. 

That put a stop into Clarke's steps, as Aska was immediately running back to her, searching for a threat. " _What ?"_

"You're _not_ muggle-born, Clarke." Lexa repeated, searching for a say to explain it to Clarke without saying too much. Then, she was struck with an idea. 

"Come with me" Lexa suddenly said to Clarke. "On my trip to France. Come with me. You'll understand."

"But.. What?" Clarke asked again, confused. "I can't leave like that" Clarke protested, starting to walk again, "And then even if I... Come with you? What the..." Clarke started rambling, trying to wrap her head around everything. 

"Ask Dumbledore, he'll let you leave" Lexa told her, then putting her hand on Clarke's arm to stop her from moving. "Clarke, please. Come with me."

Clarke almost said no; she didn't know anything about the girl, didn't even know where she was going on her trip expect that it was to France. But then, something about the way Lexa was looking at her, almost like she was hopeful, and pleading for Clarke to agree... 

"Okay" Clarke conceded. "But you've got some explaining to do". 

"I know" Lexa murmured, not able to entirely conceal how relieved she was that Clarke had agreed. "I'll explain. Meet me tomorrow in the great hall, alright?" 

Clarke nodded, and then watched Lexa enter her tower, as they had reached Slytherin's dorms. 

Once Lexa was inside, Clarke took a minute to get her focus back. What the fuck had happened? 

* * *

Next morning, Clarke was awoken by Aska licking her face as Ron's voice could be heard from Gryffindor's common room. 

"Clarke! Harry! Come on, wake up!" He was yelling, "Come down!"

Clarke and Harry met half-downstairs, rushing to see why Ron was yelling. 

"Happy christmas guys" Ron smiled at them, as they were looking at him from the balcony. 

"Happy christmas Ron" Clarke chuckled. 

"What are you wearing?" Harry then frowned, noticing the weird sweater Ron had on. 

"Oh" Ron said, "My mom made it. Looks like you got one, too!" He added, cheerful on this christmas day. 

"I've got presents?" Harry exclaimed, surprised. He had never gotten any presents. 

"Yeah!" Ron nodded, smiling at them, "Clarke, you've got some too!"

They rushed downstairs, going to their piles of wrapped gifts as Ron was pointing them to each of them. 

Ron sat on the couch, eating something Clarke believed was some wizard popcorn. Patiently waiting for them to open their presents, he frowned as Clarke hadn't move to open them. 

"What's up Clarke?" He asked. 

"I never thought I would get presents" Clarke frowned. 

"Well, that makes two of us" Harry chuckled as he started opening one. 

"Your father left this is my possession before he died" Harry read the letter on the present, "It is time it was returned to you. Use it well". 

He looked at Ron and Clarke, silently asking for explanation. As they had none, they shrugged and gestured him to open the rest. 

"What is it?" Ron asked, as Harry was taking out something from the wrapped paper. 

"Some kind of... Cloak?" Harry answered, turning the thing over to examinate it. 

"Well let's see it" Clarke said, "Put it on."

Harry nodded, putting the cloak on his shoulders. 

"Wouaw!" Ron exclaimed as Clarke's eyes were widening. Now could only be seen Harry's head, which seemed to be floating in the air, completely free of his body, which had disappeared. 

"My body's gone!" Harry added, looking down. 

"What is this?" Clarke asked, getting closer to Harry so she could take a closer look at it. 

"I know what that is" Ron said also getting up, "It's an invisibility cloak! There're really rare..." He went to pick up the letter which had been with the cloak. "Who gave it to you?" He read the letter. 

"There was no name" Harry told them, "I just said _use it well._ " 

They stayed silent for a bit, wondering about who could have offered this to Harry. Then, he unwrapped another gift, which was indeed a sweater with an "H" on it which Molly Weasley, Ron's mom, had made for him. 

"Now you match" Clarke joked at them. 

"Open your presents instead of making fun of ours" Ron threw her a unimpressed look. 

"Alright" Clarke raised her hands up as a surrendering sign, and grabbed the first present on her pile. Unwrapping it, she discovered the red and yellow embroidered collar. 

"Aska, come on boy" Clarke called him, telling him to sit still so she could put it on him. 

"Cool" Ron said, "He looks well on him. It has Gryffindor's coat of arms on it!"

"Well the sorting hat did say Aska was Gryffindor, too" Harry chuckled. Clarke smiled at them, remembering it. 

"What do you think Aska? you like it?" She asked him. 

Aska only barked; Clarke took it as a confirmation the collar wasn't bothering him too much. 

Then, she unwrapped a silver chain with a pendant on it, which was really looking like a ruby stone, emprisoned in an intriguing silver pattern. 

"That's pretty" Harry noted, looking at it, "Who offered you this?"

"My mother, it seems" Clarke said, reading the letter which went with it. "She said this necklace has been running in the family for generations". 

"That's cool" Harry smiled, "We didn't think we would have presents, but now we both have something that belonged to someone in our families."

"Yeah" Clarke smiled back. 

"There's one left for you Clarke" Ron told her, pointing at the last present under the tree. 

Clarke took it, beginning to tear the paper out. It hold two books, one being _An appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_ and _Magic in North America_. The blonde frowned, not seeing who could have offered them to her. She looked over to the two boys, who, of course, didn't have the answer either. They cleaned up all the wrapped paper they had left on the floor, and spent the morning playing board games and telling each other stories and jokes. 

* * *

As noon was quickly approaching, Clarke told Ron and Harry about Lexa's invitation and everything she had said. Although they couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the reasons why Lexa would have suggested for Clarke to come with, they didn't think there was any danger in accepting. 

Ron had told Clarke that indeed, she couldn't be a witch if no one in her family was a wizard or witch, too. So, someone in her family tree, even a couple of generations ago, must have been able to do magic at some point. Clarke had put somewhere in her mind a reminder to ask her mother about it when she would be going home for the summer. After all, with everything Abby seemed to know about the magic world, she probably knew about this too, and was lying to Clarke about it. 

"Did she tell you where you were going to go?" Harry asked. 

"France" Clarke answered, shrugging, "That's all I know."

"Alright" Ron said, "Just be careful. Hermione, Octavia and Raven will kill us if something happens to you". 

"Probably" Clarke smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Clarke suddenly remembered, getting Hermione's book list from her bag and giving it to the boys, "Lexa saw the list, and told me Nicolas Flamel was an alchemist. Maybe you could start there, if you're going to go to the library's restricted section".

"Thanks, Clarke" Harry nodded. "With the cloak, I think we'll manage it."

Clarke nodded back, then sighing. "I just need to go see Dumbledore, hoping he'll let me leave" Clarke informed them. 

"He'll probably say yes" Ron shrugged, "You've said it yourself the other day, for some reasons he went to see you in person to give you your letter. That means he looks after you, right?"

"We'll see" Clarke answered, leaving the gryffindor tower, heading for the headmaster's office. 

* * *

Clarke had not even knocked at the door yet, that it was already opening, Dumbledore standing behind the door and smiling at her. 

"Clarke" He said witha gentle voice. "I was wondering when you would come see me."

Clarke frowned, but followed the man as he was gesturing her to come inside. 

"Lexa Woods has asked you to come along to her trip, hasn't she" He said again. He was really asking a question; it was more like a statement, like he knew about it already. 

Figuring she couldn't lie about it, Clarke nodded. "Yes". 

"Do you want to go?" Dumbledore asked her, sitting on the big chair behind his desk. 

"I have questions" Clarke shrugged, a bit intimitated by him, "And she seems to have some answers."

Dumbledore smiled as an answer. "One day, you will understand" He told her, "You are free to go with Lexa."

Clarke nodded as a thank you, getting up and taking it as her cue to leave. 

"Clarke" He said, stopping her for going through the door. "You will accomplish great things. But never forget : with great powers come great responsibilities." He enigmatically said. "And don't forget to bring your new books for the trip". 

Clarke frowned, not understanding his words. And how could he have known about her new books anyways? As he got silent again, she figured it was time to leave his office. 

* * *

A couple of hours later, she had packed her things for the almost two-weeks trip, after having said goodbye to Ron and Harry and written to her mother to tell her about her whereabouts. 

Lexa was waiting for Clarke outside of the Gryffindor Tower, her coat and gloves already on. 

"Are you ready?" Lexa asked, gesturing for Clarke to give her one of her bags to carry. 

Clarke nodded, then looking at Aska. "It's ok for him to come along, right?"

Lexa nodded. "Of course. He is to stay by your side at all times."

Although finding her words weird, Clarke didn't question it further, following Lexa to the entrance where some kind of coach was waiting. 

"what's that?" Clarke asked, pointing at the thing as Lexa was giving Clarke's luggages to men who were now putting them into the coach's trunk. 

"Our transport" Lexa answered, opening the door. "Get on."

Clarke sighed, not knowing which kind of situation she had gotten herself into, and got into the coach, Aska laying at her feet, sniffing around. Lexa settled next to Clarke, nodding at the men to start driving - or whatever verb you could use for this vehicule. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a small precision about something a friend asked me : Aska, Clarke's dog, is always by her side and goes wherever she goes, even if I don't always write it. ;) he doesn't like to be touched by someone who's not Clarke and doesn't listen to anyone but Clarke. Well, except for Lexa, whom interacts with him from time to time.
> 
> Second, can anyone guess where Lexa and Clarke are going? There're some - very tiny - clues in this chapter. ;)


	11. First trip part.1 : Beauxbatons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke figures out where Lexa is taking her. They encounter new people. Aska takes too much place on the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm writing it again, but I do my best to write a story based on true HP facts, which I can find in the books, movies, or websites… But I also have to make some things up for the story to go forward, so don't worry if you sometimes read things that don't originally belong in the HP or the 100 universes. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 11 : Beauxbatons**

  


  


Clarke couldn't tell how long they had been flying - yes, _flying_ , as the coach seemed to be pulled by some strange horses Clarke was sure were magical creatures of some sort - and was looking at the window, trying to figure out where they were going. 

Then, Lexa lightly pulled on Clarke's sleeve, pointing to something outside her own window. 

"Look" Lexa said. 

Clarke turned around as her eyes suddenly widened. In the middle of nowhere, stuck between two high mountains peaks covered in snow, stood a giant castle. 

But it was not a medieval kind of castle like Hogwarts, but more like a palace, surrounded by green gardens which seemed to be directly cut out of the mountains. Then, Clarke spotted other coaches, looking just like the one they were sitting in. 

"Is that…" Clarke trailed off, thinking about what her mother had said, remembering finding out Lexa was french and wondering why she had not been admitted into the French school instead. 

"Welcome to Beauxbatons, Clarke" Lexa nodded as a confirmation, "The french school of witchcraft and wizardry." 

It only took a few more minutes before the two of them were out of the coach, as a man was walking towards them. Clarke frowned, looking at the man; he was standing stiff, his head held high, a bit like Lexa was always doing but with a more disdainful attitude about himself. 

"Heda" The man adressed her, gesturing for the men - who Clarke now believed were like domestics or servants - to unload the suitcases. "Good travel I hope?"

"Yes, Titus" Lexa answered. Clarke noticed how Lexa was acting as cold as ever, almost like she had put a stoïc mask on her face. But again, when did Lexa had even shown something else than pure stoicism? 

"Why did you bring her here, Heda?" He questionned, looking at Clarke with a not-so happy facial expression on his face. 

"You know why" Lexa only told him. 

"That is not wise" He protested, handing Lexa some kind of blue coats. 

" _That_ is not for you to decide" Lexa answered, switching coats and giving the other one to Clarke, gesturing for her to put it on. The blue coats had Hogwarts' coat of arms on them, and Clarke wondered why they had to wear a coat of a different color. As she was watching Lexa interact with this Titus guy, the blonde had a feeling something was happening, but she couldn't put her finger on it. And who was this Titus guy anyways? 

"Clarke, come on, follow me" Lexa instructed her, deliberately ignoring Titus' glaring at the blonde. 

Clarke quickly followed her as they were entered a big alley surrounded by statues and big stones arches. 

"This place is beautiful" Clarke murmured, not knowing where she should set her eyes on first. 

Lexa hummed, heading them towards a wall. Clarke frowned, not really knowing what they were doing, standing in front of the wall, when suddenly Lexa had taken her wand out, drawing with it in the air as a faded purple light was escaping from the tip of Lexa's wand and forming words as the brunette was waving her wrist.

Clarke frowned again, not able to understand what Lexa had written. Suddenly, the wall opened and formed a door, leading to a big room with sofas and chairs in it. Lexa gestured for Clarke to come inside, as she was looking all around her.

"What did you write on the wall?" Clarke asked, still trying to wrap her mind around the place they were in.

" _La fin justifie les moyens_ " Lexa answered with a perfect french accent. 

"What does that mean?" Clarke scoffed, not wanting Lexa to play dumb after she had brought her into whatever this situation was. 

"It means the end justifies the means" The brunette translated, noticing how Clarke was getting shifty from the lack of knowledge on the situation. Aska, next to her, was therefore getting shifty too. 

Clarke stayed silent for a while, slowly walking into the room, trying to take it all in. She was standing in the Beauxbatons academy, a french magic school. How the hell did she manage to get in such a situation again? 

Then, Lexa gestured for them to go upstairs, revealing a corridor with at least ten to fifteen doors in it. 

"That the first years' dorms" Lexa explained to the blonde, guiding them to one of the doors. "Each room has two to four beds, and students can choose with whom they want to share it."

"If every room as at least two beds, that means the school has way more students than Hogwarts, right?" Clarke asked, entering the room Lexa had pointed to. 

"Indeed" The brunette confirmed, "Beauxbatons is almost three times bigger than Hogwarts, in terms of numbers. Mainly because I think they also take spanish, german students…"

Clarke hummed, seeing that her suitcase was already in the room. 

"Two double beds" Clarke said again, looking around. "Students are supposed to sleep in the same beds?"

"No" Lexa answered, and Clarke could swear she had seen a quick smile on the brunette's face, "There's two of us, so two beds."

"Oh" Clarke said, sitting on the bed as Aska was happily jumping on it, rolling himself on the covers. Running her eyes on the walls and looking outside by the window, Clarke could already see that Beauxbatons was really built up as a french representation of its grace and beauty. From the window, Clarke could see the well-maintained gardens, clean avenues, the big fountain in the middle, looking like all those pictures of Versailles she had seen… But mysteries still remained, and Clarke was set on having answers. 

"Lexa, how come we're here?" Clarke asked after a few minutes, turning over to her friend. If she could call Lexa a friend, anyways. "What's all that?" Clarke then frowned, taking in Lexa's appearance, just now noticing she had probably changed clothes while she had been looking out the window, now dressed up in some light blue colors, but with Hogwarts' coat of armors on them; the blue clothes were very different from the green she was wearing in Hogwarts. 

"It's my beauxbatons's clothes" Lexa said. 

"What?" Clarke got up, getting closer to Lexa so she could take a closer look at her clothing, "What do you mean, your _Beauxbatons' clothes_?" 

"You heard well" Lexa stated.

"You've been to this place before?" Clarke asked, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer to that question, "And what are we even doing here anyways?"

"I am french" Lexa started, seeing that probably needed to give some answers to Clarke before she would get upset, "And as such I went to Beauxbatons once I reached seven years old, as it's the custom here."

"Seven?" Clarke frowned, "Not eleven?"

"All schools don't always take in their students at the same age" Lexa explained. "Here, students go to pre-school at the age of 7, and then are sorted into houses at age 11" Lexa explained, taking a pile of clothes from the closet next to Clark's bed as the Blonde was curiously watching her move around. "But once I reached eleven, I received Hogwarts' letter."

"How could that be possible? Two schools?" Clarke asked again, not understanding. 

"It happens sometimes" Lexa only offered as an answer. "So I went to Hogwarts. But I'll come back here every time classes in Hogwarts are over."

"But... How could you have been acccepted to both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons..?" Clarke questionned, "I read… I read that you could only belong to one school."

"And yet you belong to quite a couple of schools, Clarke" Lexa dryly answered. 

"What?" Clarke stopped talking, confused. "I only received a Hogwarts letter. I didn't even _know_ I was a witch before receiving it." Clarke frowned.

"Yeah, right" Lexa scoffed. "Your family saw a hundred generations of wizards. I bet even the sorting hat was pleased to see yet another Griffin at Hogwarts". 

" What are you talking about?" Clarke protested, "It told me it was _not even a question_ as to where to put me, I belong to Hogwarts" Clarke replicated, "But what about the sorting hat said about you? Or, right" Clarke sarcastically said, " _Nothing_ , as it didn't have a single word to say" Clarke scoffed, getting back to her bed and putting the few items she had taken off her suitcase back in it. "I'm sure that it didn't talk because it knew you should have been to Beauxbatons."

None of them talked for a few seconds as Clarke was muttering to herself and as Lexa was putting the pile of clothes on Clarke's bed. 

"Clarke" Lexa sighed, finally breaking up the silence. "I didn't bring you here so we could argue for two weeks."

"Right, then why did you bring me here in the first place?" Clarke bit back, gesturing for Aska to follow are she was heading for the door. "I'm going back to Hogwarts."

She started walking off when Lexa quickly got in her way, blocking her path to the door. 

"Clarke, please" Lexa took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, ok? I don't know how to do this."

"And you think I do?" Clarke ironically snorted. 

"I know, I know" Lexa quickly nodded, "But it's complicated. I need you to… Would you…" Lexa sighed again, upset at her apparent lack of verbal skills. Clarke raised a brow at her, silently telling her she needed more from her if she didn't want the blonde to leave straight away. 

"I am sorry" Lexa tried again. "I have things to show you. I know you have questions, and I have some answers, but I have a lot of questions myself. So, hum… Can you stay?"

Clarke thought about it for a few moments, not really in the mood to suffer through Lexa's constant changes of mood, but being intrigued about everything that was _Lexa._

"Alright" Clarke finally conceded, "But I swear Lexa, you need to…"

"I know" Lexa cut her off, "I'll explain. I promise." 

Clarke nodded at her.

Thank you" Lexa breathed, then gestured to the clothes. "These are for you. They have Hogwarts' coat of armors on them; as we're not sorted into Beauxbatons' houses, it's so that the teachers and students can know we're only here for a few days".

Clarke nodded, then frowned as she realised what Lexa was saying. "Teachers? Wait, are we going to go to _class_?"

"Take your backpack" Lexa only answered. 

* * *

Clarke was muttering to herself again as she was following Lexa into the corridors. Around them, students were either weirdly looking at them, nodding or waving at them. Actually, they were rather looking weirdly at Clarke and waving at Lexa, as if they knew her already. Which was probably the case, Clarke then thought, as Lexa had been at the school from age 7 to 11. 

"Beauxbatons has three houses" Lexa quietly explained, showing the different colors to Clarke as students were walking past them, " _Ombrelune_ , meaning shadow moon, students in dark blue and grey. It's almost the equivalent of Slytherin house. Ambition, curiosity, logic. They make cool and calculating students, driven by power and perfection" Lexa said, "Second house is _Papillonlisse,_ meaning something like smooth papillion, in light purple. Often artists, pure souls and idealistics, reflecting maturity and kindness" Lexa then told Clarke, showing them a couple of students wearing purple sweaters. "And finally _Bellefeuille,_ translating to pretty or beautiful leaf, students wearing green. Standing for bravery, sensitivity, loyalty, kind of like Gryffindor." 

Clarke nodded along Lexa's explanations, trying to remember all of it while she was looking around, taking sight of the beautiful palace they were walking in. 

"We will attend a couple of classes here" Lexa told Clarke, stopping them in front of a door. "You need the extra classes. Come on."

Lexa moved them forwards as Clarke was left speechless. _You need the extra classes._ What the hell was that supposed to mean? Fuming in the inside, Clarke followed Lexa into the classroom as students were stopping their conversations to stare at them. A few of them nodded at Lexa as she was walking by their desks; every time, Lexa nodded back, but she never stopped to talk with some of them. 

Odd, Clarke thought. 

Lexa then gestured for them to settle behind one of the desks, in the middle of the classroom. _Thank god_ , Clarke thought. She didn't think she would have survived having to sit front row. Glaring at Lexa as the brunette was giving her yet another book, Clarke then focused her attention on the book's cover. Another charms' book. Clarke then glared at the brunette again; was Clarke that bad that Lexa thought she needed to study _every_ first year's books of charms?

But Lexa didn't say a word, so Clarke just huffed and starting looking ahead of her, when who was supposedly the Charms' teacher was coming into the room. 

"Hello everyone" He greeted them, running his eyes over their heads. "Oh, Lexa's with us." He acknowledged her presence, "We hope Hogwarts' first semester went ok for you."

Lexa firmly nodded, as students were looking at her. Clarke had a bit of trouble understanding if students were happy that she was here or if she rather was some curiousity everyone would gossip about. 

"And we have a new student, I see" The teacher then spotted Clarke and Aska. "And who are you?"

Clarke was startled, not expecting the teacher to address her. But then again, she was a stranger to the school, it was no wonder he had spotted her. 

"I'm Clarke. Clarke Griffin" Clarke timidly introduced herself, "I'm from Hogwarts, too."

"Oh" The teacher's eyes widened for some unknown reason, "Griffin. And that's..." He trailed off, pointing at Aska.

"Aska" Clarke answered, "My dog". 

The teacher hummed, looking between Clarke and Aska. "Alright then. A Griffin... I never thought…"

He stopped talking, as if he was thinking really hard about something; but after a few seconds, the odd facial expression he had been wearing since he had heard Clarke's name faded, and he seemed to focus on the task at hands. Clarke didn't have time to think about the teacher's reaction, as he approached their table, giving Clarke a piece of paper. 

Clarke looked at it; it was a schedule. A _class_ schedule, running for the entire week. _Wait_ , Clarke thought, _I am supposed to be in class for the whole week?_

"Alright students" He then said, "Go to page 65. We'll learn about the _Lumos_ spell today."

* * *

Class was over, and Clarke was quickly walking into the corridors - having no idea where she was going - but wanting to put some distance between Lexa and herself, mad at the girl - Clarke seemed to always be mad at the girl anyways. 

"Clarke, wait" Lexa jogged up to catch up with her, "Would you please stop for a second?"

Clarke then abruptly stopped, turning to look at Lexa, anger clearly written in her eyes. "What the hell, Lexa?" Clarke growled, "Taking me to another magic school, to then let me discover that I have me go to classes for a whole week? What is _wrong_ with you?"

Lexa opened her mouth to talk but couldn't say anything as Clarke silenced her with a wave, telling her to keep quiet. 

"Maybe I'm bad at magic" Clarke said, gritting her teeth, "But it doesn't mean you have the right to make me go to extra classes during the holidays. Who are you, to decide I'm not good enough?"

Lexa wanted to talk, but again, was cut off by Clarke. "Leave me alone" Clarke told her. 

And Clarke walked away, leaving Lexa standing in the middle of the corridor. 

"Clarke, wait!" Lexa called, then sighed, "You don't even know where you're going!"

"Yes I know!" Clarke shouted back, still walking away and closely followed by Aska, "Far from you!"

And she disappeared. Left alone, Lexa sighed, biting her lips. That had not gone the way she wanted it to. Sighing once more, she starting moving again, knowing she should probably find Clarke and apologize - once again. 

* * *

Still fuming, Clarke was lost. She didn't know the school, so of course, after having walked from Lexa, she had randomly turned into corridors and was now in what she believed was the main court, surrounded by trees and all kinds of bushes. 

Spotting a bench, Clarke sat on it, taking a few minutes to breathe and think about everything. Looking around, Clarke could see people on broomsticks flying around, probably training for Quidditch matches. Groups of students were walking past her, so she took it as an opportunity to study them a bit more. Suddenly, she recalled Professor Dumbledore's words. 

Fumbling into her bag, she got out one of the books she had had as a Christmas present from the unknown person. _An appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_. France was in Europe too, surely the book had some information about Beauxbatons school. 

Clarke began to read, when someone came to sit by her side on the bench, raising her attention. 

"So you're from Hogwarts, right?" The person asked in a rather good English, even though her accent was clearly french. 

Clarke raised her head to look at the new person; she recognized the face, having already seen her in charms' class. 

"Yes" Clarke nodded after a while, closing her book and holding her hand up to the other girl. "I'm Clarke". 

"I'm Harper" The girl introduced herself, smiling. "Your dog, right?" She pointed to Aska, laying at Clarke's feet and looking around, probably assessing for threats that may come to Clarke. 

"Yep, that's Aska" Clarke smiled, lightly scratching the top of her dog's head, "I found him in a magical shop, and he hasn't left my side since."

"Really?" The girl asked, surprised, "He follows you everywhere? Your school allows it?"

"One teacher tried to take him away once" Clarke shrugged, "But Dumbledore, the headmaster, apparently told everyone Aska could stay with me at all times. No one said anything about it since."

Harper hummed and seemed to be satisfied enough with the answer. Clarke couldn't say more about it anyways, as she herself didn't know why Aska had been allowed to stay by her side like this. 

"So, how come you're here?" Harper asked again. "In the school, I mean". 

Clarke half-chuckled, half-scoffed at the girl's words. "Don't ask _me_ " Clarke said, "I came with Lexa." 

"Oh, the younger Woods girl" Harper hummed. "She was with us in pre-school for a few years, before leaving to Hogwarts."

"That's what she told me" Clarke nodded, then remembered Harper's words. "Wait, _younger_ Woods?"

"Yeah" Harper shrugged, "She has an older cousin, called Ana or something. She studied here too, then left for another school." Harper seemed to think about it, "Wait, maybe you've seen her in Hogwarts too, now that I think of it!"

Clarke confirmed with a nod, understanding they were talking about Anya. "She's Slytherin."

"I'm not very familiar with other schools' houses" Harper admitted, "But I guess it made sense she's in Hogwarts too. Runs in the family."

"What do you mean?" Clarke frowned. 

"I'll show you" Harper answered, getting up and gesturing for Clarke to get up. Curious, Clarke followed the girl through the corridors as she was leading them somewhere. After a few minutes, Harper made them stop in front of a wall, where stood hundreds of pictures. 

"These are all the proms of Beauxbatons" The girl explained, "Every prom gets its picture taken when they enter pre-school, aged 7, then again at age 11 when they officially enter the school and one last time in their last year at Beauxbatons."

Clarke waited for Harper to explain further, as she couldn't yet understand the meaning of her words. 

"Look" Harper showed her, "Sometimes students names are written under the pictures. But every Wood name written in pre-school pictures disappear in the next two."

"Odd" Clarke said. 

"Not odd" Harper smiled at her with a knowing grin, "Every known Wood family member did pre-school in Beauxbatons. Yet, not a single one completed its schooling here."

" _That_ is odd" Clarke said again, looking closely at the pictures.

"Yeah" Harper shrugged. "But it's always been like this" She told Clarke, "I guess it's just the way it is, people don't ask questions about it, it's… _Common knowledge_?" Harper searched for the proper words. 

Clarke nodded, letting her new friend - if she could call Harper a friend - know that she had understood her point.

"Oh, look" Harper then chuckled, pointing to a picture, which seemed to be a 11 years olds prom, "This girl kind of look like you."

Clarke took a closer look, intrigued. Harper was right; the girl _did_ look like her! 

"What's her name?" The blonde asked her friend. 

"I don't know" The other girl shrugged, "No names on this picture. Oh, I never noticed before..." Harper then trailed off. 

"What?" Clarke asked, having noticed her friend's sudden change of behavior. 

"It's the 1981 prom" Harper murmured, a bit paler than she was a few minutes ago. 

Clarke frowned, not really understanding what Harper was telling her. Harper noticed as Clarke didn't seem to link everything together, and raised her eyebrows, surprised the blonde hadn't reacted. 

"It was the darkiest year the wizard world ever had" Harper told the blonde as if she was supposed to know that, "The year _you-know-who_ and his disciples almost took over." She then gravely pointed at the same prom on their last year's picture. "Look; half of them are missing on this one."

Clarke looked as students were half-less in their seven year's picture than they were in their eleven's. "Missing..?" Clarke asked, needing confirmation even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer already. 

"Hiding from deatheaters" Harper murmured. "Or already dead."

Neither of them talked for a few minutes as they were both trying to wrap their heads about what they had just talked about. Clarke now knew that 1981 was the year Harry's parents died; Octavia and Raven had explained it to her, first day in Hogwarts, and Harry himself had talked about it with Clarke once. But at the time, it had seemed too far from herself that she was only now measuring this crisis' impact on life as it was, and the damage it had done, how many families it had broke, how many lives had been taken. Could it be, that Clarke's family members fought against the Dark Lord to defend the magic world against dark arts and even darker beings? Or were they deatheathers, supporting _you-know-who_? The more Clarke was thinking about it, the more questions she had; Bellamy and Octavia's father had diseappeard around that time, when Octavia was only just a baby; could it had been that he had fought in the war? The blonde then remembered Lexa had never mentioned her parents either. her trail of thoughts was however broken as Harper sighed, gesturing for Clarke to follow her and get away from the wall. 

"So anyways" Harper asked as they were back to walking into the corridors, "What's your next class?"

Clarke groaned, as she had almost forgot she had to go back to class at some point. She took out the schedule the Charms' teacher had given her, looking through it to figure out where she needed to go next.

"Potions" Clarke read. She sighed as she looked at the location of the classroom, written on her schedule. "I don't even know where to go".

"I have potions class too" Harper chuckled, "Come on, I'll show you."

They walked in the palace, lightly chatting. Well, it was more like Clarke was asking questions and Harper was providing answers when she could.

"This way" Harper then showed a door to Clarke. But as they were going to go inside, a voice called.

"Clarke!"

The blonde turned around. Lexa was walking towards them at a fast pace, and didn't seem to be too happy to set her eyes on the blonde again. Or was it relief, that Clarke could see, hidden in the brunette's eyes? _No, no way_ , Clarke shook her head. 

"Where were you?" Lexa hissed, "I've been looking everywhere. We have potions class and..."

"I know" Clarke dryly cut her off, "And I did just find without your help, thank you."

Lexa seemed to be wanting to reply, but kept quiet instead, probably figuring out now was not the proper time - or location - to fight with the blonde. 

"Come on" Lexa sighed, "Let's get inside."

Clarke didn't move for a few seconds, not really wanting to follow Lexa. 

"Maybe you could sit with me, if you want?" Harper then asked, offering the blonde the escape she wanted. 

"Yeah, thanks" Clarke breathed, not wanting to admit she was relieved Harper had step in to save her. 

Lexa, although wanting to protest, looked at Clarke one last time. And without a word, she got inside the classroom, heading for a empty desk and settling on it. 

Harper shrugged, looking at Clarke, and they entered the classroom.

* * *

To Clarke's surprise, potions class was actually ok. In fact, she had even _liked_ the class, and that was a big premiere as she had spent an entire semester wishing potions course would be removed for the schooling program. 

The teacher was nice and patient; first, she had explained everything, in details, making them copy the recipe and everything they needed to know about what they would be making. Then, they had paired up, and initiated making the potion they had just studied. The teacher would walk around, going through every students, giving advices, guidance or compliments, whatever was needed so they would approve. No disdainful looks, no mockery. 

Maybe taking classes somewhere else wasn't such a bad idea after all, Clarke found herself thinking. 

After class was over, Harper had complained about the ton of homework teachers had given them, and how hungry she was after all this learning. Chuckling, Clarke had followed her to what seemed to be their main room. Contrary to Hogwarts, there weren't big set of tables aligned, where students would eat with people of their own houses. The room was filled with round tables, which could probably contain up to ten or twelves students. Kids were sitting together, unregarding of their houses, mixing themselves. 

"That's cool" Clarke hummed. 

"What is?" Harper asked, leading them to a table where a couple of people were already seated at. 

"Your tables arrangements." Clarke explained, "In Hogwarts, we have four rows of tables, one for each house. Students from different houses usually don't meddle at lunch times".

"It's weird" Harper said, "But then again, each school has its own ways."

Clarke nodded as they had reached the tables. 

"Guys, this is Clarke and Aska" Harper introduced the blonde and her dog, "She's from Hogwarts, staying for the whole week. Clarke, this is Murphy, Emori and Wick. They're weirdos, but cool." 

"Hi" Clarke said, noticing as they all seemed from different houses, except from Wick, who was, as Harper, dressed in light green clothes. 

The girls sat down, and began filling their plates. 

"How are you sorted into your houses?" Clarke asked, now very curious about everything she could learn about Beauxbatons and the magic world. 

"We shoot an arrow" Wick explained, "And it lights up with the color of our house." Clarke was pleased to note that they all seemed to speak English well enough to be able to understand her; she was relieved about it, because she couldn't speak a word of french even if her life depended on it. 

"Cool" Clarke hummed, thinking what he would be like to shoot an arrow in Hogwarts' great hall. 

"What about you?" Emori asked the blonde. 

"A sorting hat."

"Hogwarts' weird" The guy called Murphy snorted, before filling his mouth with potatoes. 

The rest of the group chuckled, getting back to their lunches. 

* * *

The rest of the day went by in an blink of an eye. After lunch, they had flying lesson, and Clarke was pleased to see she wasn't _that_ bad compared to other students of their class. Actually, she was starting to think that Hogwarts had taught her well, and she had managed to acquire some skills after all. 

Classes were over by 3 in the afternoon, so Harper and Clarke decided to go have a head-start in their homework, as Charms' assignement was due for the end of the week. Wick was with them too, although Clarke was believing he was a couple of years older than them. Harper then offered Clarke a sympathetic Clarke when the blonde also got her Hogwarts assignment out of her bag, sighing as she was doing so. 

"They make you study during holidays" Harper frowned, "That's rough."

"Yeah" Clarke sighed, "But I didn't even know I was a witch until august, so, I have a lot to learn anyways" The blonde told her friend. 

Harper hummed, getting her focus back on the paper they had to write. They studied in silence for a good hour, when they were rejoined by Emori and Murphy after the end of their classes. 

"I don't understand this" Clarke then frowned, going through her potions' notes and working on a four-pages paper Snape wanted them to write. Wick raised his nose out of the book he was reading, bending over so that he could read Clarke's notes. 

"Oh, we've studied this in first year too, I can explain" He said, smiling at Clarke, "You actually have to..."

But he was cut off in his explanations when someone dropped a notebook next to the blonde, sitting down. 

"My notes" Lexa gestured to Clarke, pointing the notebook. "It's easy actually" She told the blonde as Clarke was rolling her eyes, bracing herself for what she thought was coming - Lexa mocking her magic skills -. 

"Snape just explains it wrong and does it on purpose" But Lexa said instead, surprising the group. Clarke wiped her head towards the brunette. Had Lexa _actually_ try to offer her some kind of comfort words? 

The rest of the group seemed as surprised as she was; and if Lexa noticed it, she ignored it and opened their potions' book, set on helping Clarke understand. Which was a first actually, as she had never took time to explain anything to the blonde, always picking her up with her lack of knowledge instead. 

Without saying anything, Clarke listened as the brunette detailed the potion's making progress to her. Clarke found herself thinking that Lexa was actually good at teaching, using her notes to explain, seconding her words with phrases from books... A short amount of time later, Clarke had understood everything there was to know about the potion they had to write about. 

"Thank you, Lexa" Clarke honestly said, still surprised about Lexa's initiative to help her. 

Lexa only nodded, and got back to her own assignments. 

"Go to page 21 of Beauxbatons' potions book" Harper told her, offering a gentle smile to the blonde, herself surprised by Lexa's behavior too but glad the blonde seemed to have understood what she needed to learn, "They talk about this potion too, but we haven't studied it yet."

Clarke nodded to her as a thank you, and started writing her paper again, this time more confident and with real knowledge about what she was doing; and that was kind of a first for Clarke, in this magic world she was discovering everyday. 

They kept going on their homeworks for a couple of hours more when they decided to call it a day. They went to the mess hall to eat diner, and everyone got back to their dorms, tired of their day. 

* * *

Clarke was putting her pyjamas on, sliding under her covers as the air was getting chilly. On the other side of the room, Lexa was busy undoing her braid, focused on the task at hand. Or lost in her thoughts, even; Clarke couldn't tell. 

It was weird, sharing a room with Lexa; Clarke had always been used to share bedrooms with Octavia and Raven, who were almost like sisters to her, and she had getting used to Hogwarts' dormitories and sleeping with Gryffindors. But Lexa... Well, that was something else. Clarke couldn't really explain it, but it was different with the brunette. Almost like she was seeing a secret side of Lexa, a side she was keeping locked inside, and that was getting out only a few seconds when Lexa couldn't manage to hide it. 

Like the flashes of emotions Clarke had briefly seen in her green eyes sometimes, so quick and immediately vanishing that one could think it was all in their heads. Watching her, Clarke then noticed something at the back of Lexa's neck. A tatoo?

"Lexa" Clarke asked, "Is that a tatoo on your neck?" 

"Yes" Lexa hummed, still trying to unbraid her hair. Clarke had more questions about it, but figured out she shouldn't be too pushy with Lexa. She had only just started being nice, she didn't want to risk it. 

Clarke watched her for a few seconds, then got up, deciding she was going to help Lexa with her hair, as it seemed like they wouldn't go to bed until Lexa was done with her hair, and Clarke was tired. Aska raised his head, looking to check about where Clarke was going, and getting back to lay on the floor once he was sure Clarke wasn't going too far from him. 

"Here, let me help" Clarke offered, sitting on Lexa's bed right next to the brunette. Lexa stilled for a few seconds, but then relaxed and nodded at Clarke. 

Clarke started working on Lexa's hair, as they stayed in silence for a couple of minutes. 

"Lexa, what about your parents?" Clarke gently asked. 

"They died when I was little" Lexa answered. She didn't seem to be sad about it. "I don't remember them."

"I'm sorry" Clarke offered her. Once again, Clarke had more questions in her head, but decided not to ask them, feeling it wasn't the proper time. 

"Don't be" The brunette said, "It's ok."

They went back to silence once more, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Clarke was actually finding out that Lexa, while not talking much, was still expressing herself. Clarke could see it in the way Lexa would take glances at her from time to time and quickly divert her eyes, as if she was finding herself guilty for looking at Clarke. it was showing in the way she always seemed to know where Clarke was, and following her with her eyes whenever Clarke would move. Even in Hogwarts, Clarke had surprised the brunette looking her way more than a couple of times, and she was starting to think that Lexa was trying to tell her something, which she yet didn't know how to phrase it. 

"I'm done" Clarke then told Lexa. 

"Thank you, Clarke" Lexa said, starting to run a hand through her now curly hair. 

Clarke nodded, and walked back to bed, settling under her covers once more. Aska jumped on the bed, laying at Clarke's feet as he always did. Lexa slid under her sheets too, and the light magically went off. Clarke wondered if the lights had somehow know that they were ready to sleep, or if it was only some curfew. 

Half-an-hour later, Clarke was looking at the ceiling, having trouble sleeping. Too many thoughts were running in her mind, and it didn't help that she had to become familiar with not one, but _two_ magic schools in less that four months. 

From the other side of the room, Clarke could hear Lexa tossing and turning around in her bed. Frowning, Clarke quickly wondered if the girl was ok, but as she didn't want to ask her about it, she just stayed still, listening for a sign that lexa wasn't ok. 

Surprisingly, it was Lexa that broke the silence, a few minutes later. 

"Clarke?" She asked from the other side of the room with a hushed voice, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah" Clarke sighed, really wanting to sleep but enable to. "Are you ok?"

At her feet, Aska was moving, too, probably feeling the unease in the room and all the restlessness. 

"I..." Lexa started, but trailed off. 

"What?" Clarke asked, encouraging Lexa to speak up. 

"I... I never sleep well in here" Lexa confessed, and it broke Clarke's heart when she heard the defeat in Lexa's voice. 

"Why is that?" Clarke sat in her bed, definitely too awake to sleep. 

"I don't belong here" Lexa whispered. 

Clarke frowned at those words. "Then where _do_ you belong?"

Lexa didn't answer. Clarke waited a few seconds, wondering if Lexa was going to answer. Clarke had finally settled back on her pillow, figuring that their discussion was over, when Lexa suddenly spoke again. 

"I don't know" She murmured. 

Wild awake again, Clarke's mind was racing about what she wqs going to say after this. Maybe they weren't so different after all, Lexa and her; it had been a while since Clarke knew where she belonged. Her friends were the only ones giving her this feeling; but again, Lexa didn't seem to have that many friends, even here, in Beauxbatons. 

"Lexa, do you have friends?" Clarke blurted, "I mean here, in Beauxbatons?"

"Yes" Lexa answered, although she was still speaking with a tiny voice and Clarke assumed that she was right about Lexa not having many friends, "We'll see them soon. They are coming back in a couple of days."

"Coming back?" Clarke inquiered. 

"They have been studying abroad" Lexa explained. 

"Is this usual, for students to go study to others schools like this?" Clarke then asked. When she thought of it, maybe that was the reason why Harper and her friends had a good english. 

"Not usual" Lexa answered. "It's quite rare, actually."

"Then _why_ me?" Clarke frowned, "Why did you bring me?"

Lexa didn't answer straight away, and Clarke wondered if it was because she was trying to decide if she would tell the truth or lie. 

"Dumbledore asked me" Lexa finally confessed. 

Clarke didn't talk, stunned. It took a few seconds to find her voice again. "What do you _mean,_ Dumbledore asked you?"

Suddenly the lights were on again, and Clarke could see Lexa, also sat in her bed, leaning on the wall behind them. Definitely magic lights, Clarke noticed as the lights went back on after they started the conversation. 

"Dumbledore knew I was going back to Beauxbatons for the holidays" Lexa explained, putting up a stoic face. "He told me I could bring you with me. That it would probably be for the best, if you were to come with me."

Clarke frowned again, now very confused. Which seemed to happen a lot since September. 

"What? But why would he... What is the meaning of this?" Clarke pressed on, trying to find a reason for it all. Did Dumbledore also think that she was not good enough? Did he think that, as Lexa had said, that she needed the extra classes? Was this the reason why he had told Lexa to bring her on the trip? 

"I don't understand..." Clarke murmured, turning her mind over and over again. 

"Please don't put too much thoughts into this, Clarke" Lexa surprisingly said. 

Clarke looked at Lexa, slouched on her pillows, leaning on the wall behind her. She looked tired. And small. And eleven, only just a kid - something Clarke had often trouble remember. Then, Clarke remembered Lexa's earlier words about not being able to sleep in Beauxbatons. 

The blonde sighed, knowing she wouldn't get any more answers from Lexa tonight, and she didn't want to give the brunette reasons to lie to her. Better not knowing that believing in lies, right? 

"Lexa" Clarke started as Lexa was putting her tired eyes back on the blonde, "Come on."

Clarke then gestured to her own bed, sliding to one side of it and explicitly lifting one side of her sheets, egging on Lexa to come sleep with her. 

Lexa frowned, first not understanding what Clarke was expecting. Then, her eyes widened. 

"I'm not... I don't..." Lexa studdered, cheeks slightly reddening. Clarke chuckled; it was the first time Lexa was at loss for words, and it was a funny thing to witness. The blonde didn't bulge, and after a few seconds, Lexa finally sighed, got up and came under the covers in Clarke's bed, laying down as the lights magically went off again. 

They settled in silence, letting sleep come to them. But after a while, Clarke felt Lexa move again in the bed. 

"Clarke" Lexa suddenly touched Clarke's arm, gently shaking her as Clarke was half-alseep, "There's something on my feet." Lexa whispered, half-curious half-scared. 

Clarke couldn't help but laugh at the brunette. "Aska, down" Clarke ordered, still laughing, as Lexa was mumbling about not being used to have a dog sleep on her. 

Calm took over the room again after a few minutes, as both girls were already asleep. 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you can read, I'm introducing new characters, that will not be from Hogwarts… ;)


	12. First trip part.2 : The Viny siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week goes by at Beauxbatons school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Clarke encounters some interesting set of siblings. Why everyone is making a mystery out of Aska?

** Chapter 12 : The Viny Siblings**

The week went by pretty fast at Beauxbatons school. Between classes and learning and studying and doing homework, Clarke was so busy that she forgot to ask questions for a couple of days. 

At first angry at Lexa for taking her to another school to follow other courses, she now had to admit it was quite a good thing; Clarke had never understood her Hogwarts classes as much as she had in the couple of days that they stayed in Beauxbatons. 

Hogwarts' teachings were fine, of course, but seeing things from a different point of view was really helping the blonde learn about magic. She had even learned how to do a couple of spells that Lexa had told her wouldn't be teached at Hogwarts until second of third year. 

Speaking of Lexa, Clarke had been surprised to see the brunette's behavior change after their afternoon in the library and their first night at the school. In consequence, Lexa was now less rude with her during the day, actually talking to her like a normal person and without making Clarke feel like the girl hated her. During the days, they would go to class together, sit together - expect for potions class where Clarke would pair up with Harper - and do their homeworks together. At night, it had become an unspoken agreement after their first night, that Lexa would climb into Clarke's bed, falling asleep together. Although it had originally been so Lexa could sleep better, Clarke had to admit she was having great nights sleeping next to her. Which was weird, because they didn't know each other for a very long time. 

Today, Clarke was finally going to meet the friends Lexa had talked about. Yawning as she was starting to wake up, she chuckled as she heard the brunette groan, next to her. 

"Aska, go away" Lexa grumbled, lightly pushing the dog as he probably was licking her face. 

"Come on, Aska" Clarke called him, getting up to put some clothes on as the lights were slowly turning themselves on. 

"When will your friends be there?" Clarke asked. 

"I don't know" Lexa shrugged, rummaging through her clothes to find something, "Probably around noon."

"Where are they coming from?"

"Brazil" Lexa told Clarke. 

Clarke's eyebrows shot up; she had no idea there was a magic school in Brazil. And were they _even_ in a magic school? For all Clarke knew, they could also be on a roadtrip or whatever. 

They got dressed and headed for the mess hall for breakfast. During the first days, Clarke had been glad to see that Beauxbatons school had pretty much the same organization than Hogwarts, so she didn't feel too lost. Harper and Wick were already seated, chatting about something regarding brooms.

"Hi Clarke" Harper smiled at the blonde, "Lexa" She then aknowledged the brunette. 

"Emori and Murphy?" Clarke asked, sitting down next to Harper and looking around for the missing two. 

"Quidditch trials are today" Harper explained, "Emori wants to make it into the team, so she has already left for the Quidditch pitch. John's with her, obviously". 

"Quidditch trials?" Clarke frowned, filling her plate with a couple of croissants. "So Quidditch is not only a british thing, then?"

"No it's not" Harper chuckled, "It's _the_ wizard sport. There are national teams and stuff."

"In Hogwarts, first years aren't usually allowed to join the Quidditch teams." Clarke told them. 

"Not here either" Wick clarified, "But Emori's a third year, so..."

Clarke hummed, discovering at the same time that students in Beauxbatons were not only mixing themselves between houses but also between proms. 

"You don't play, Wick?" Clarke then asked. 

"Nope" He shrugged, "I'm all brain and no muscles" He joked, "And I'm not really good at flying, so there's that."

"You need to be really good on a broomstick if you want to play Quidditch" Harper added, "That's one of the main reason why first years don't make it into the team."

"At Hogwarts, a first year student said he had already learned flying on a broomstick" Clarke said, remembering as stupid and pretentious Draco Malefoy was rambling about how he was so good he would be a pro quidditch player. 

"Yeah, that's possible" Harper nodded, "Kids born in wizards families learn and already know a lot of stuff before entering any wizard school" The girl explained to Clarke, "But just because you were born from wizards parents doesn't mean anything after half-a-year of classes. There's so much to learn anyways, even wizards-born students are quickly over their heads."

Clarke gratefully smiled at her new friend as Harper seemed to somehow know that Clarke's parents weren't wizards. 

"Come on" Harper then said to Wick, "let's go see if Emori has fallen off her broomstick yet". 

"You wish" Wick chuckled, getting up, "She has great flying skills. No way she doesn't make it in"; 

They left the room, heading for the Quidditch pitch. Clarke and Lexa were left alone at their tables, finishing their breakfast. 

"Do you want to be a quidditch player?" Clarke then broke the silence, asking Lexa. 

"I won't have time to" Lexa truthfully answered. "Quidditch players train at least three times a week."

"What do you mean?" Clarke frowned, "Lexa you're brilliant, you can manage training _and_ classes". 

"I don't like flying that much anyways" Lexa said again as Clarke understood it probably was better to drop the matter. "But _you_ would be a great player" Lexa then added, surprising Clarke. 

"Me? I don't think so" Clarke chuckled, "Harry's good though."

"It does run in his veins" Lexa nodded. "Yours, too."

"What are you talking about?" Clarke frowned.

Lexa didn't answer straight away, as she seemed to be thinking about whether she was going to say next. After a few seconds, she got up, gesturing for Clarke to follow her. 

"I have something to show you." 

Intrigued, Clarke followed Lexa in the corridors, when she recognized the path they were taking. She had been here before, with Harper. 

"That's every Beauxbatons' proms' pictures" Clarke pointed, recognizing the wall Harper had shown her on her first day at the school. 

"Yes" Lexa confirmed, then gesturing to another spot in the room. "And this is the trophy wall."

Clarke looked around at something she hadn't noticed the first time she came into the room. On another wall were hanged cups and crests, almost covering the entire space. She took a few steps forwards so she could take a closer look at everything that was hanged. 

"Those are Quidditch player's crests" Clarke noticed. "Hogwarts has some like these" She added, remembering the one Hermione had shown them with Harry's father's name on it. 

"Every Beauxbatons quidditch player gets two of them when they enter the team. When they leave the team, either by choice or because they graduated, they have to give one of them back, which goes up on this wall." The brunette explained. "Hogwarts uses the same system". 

Clarke hummed at Lexa's explanation, walking around so she could read a few names. 

"Clarke" Lexa gently called, "Look at this one."

Her curiosity awakening, Clarke walked over to where Lexa was standing, setting her eyes on the crest Lexa was pointing to. 

Clarke's eyes widened when she read the name written on it. _Anthony Griffin_.

"Anthony Griffin" Clarke murmured, "I don't… Who's he?" She turned over to Lexa, searching green eyes for an answer she wasn't even sure Lexa had. 

"He played beater for _Bellefeuille_ " Lexa told her. "That's all I know." 

Clarke stayed quiet, not really understanding why her name would find itself on the trophee wall. But then again, there was probably a thousand Griffins all over the world, right? It couldn't be that rare of a name. 

Except Lexa had figured out what Clarke was thinking. "He's from your family, Clarke" Lexa murmured, pointing to another crest. "This one is too."

Clarke read up another name. _Tristan Griffin_.

"How is that possible?" Clarke whispered, half in awe and half confused about the meaning of this. "Mom told me they weren't any wizards in our family tree, up to at last three generations."

"Are you sure she is telling the truth?" Lexa suggested. "She may not know about any wizards, but it doesn't mean there aren't any."

"She would know" Clarke frowned, running her fingers on yet another crest sporting a Griffin name. _Louis Griffin._ "She's a doctor for wizards. She knows about the wizard world."

"Clarke" Lexa scoffed, "There aren't muggles doctors who treat wizards patients and _know_ about them being wizards."

"What?" Clarke frowned again, "Yes there is. My mother is one." 

"Your mother is _lying_ to you, Clarke" Lexa scoffed again, starting to walk away from the wall and back towards their dorm. 

"No she's _not_!" Clarke protested, getting upset. 

Lexa stilled in her steps, abrutly turning around to face Clarke. 

"Tell me Clarke, when did _you_ learn about the magic world?" Lexa asked with a voice which was suddenly sounding very cold and angry. 

"I've always knew" Clarke scoffed, "And I don't see the…"

"And you have never questioned it?" Lexa cut her off by asking more questions, "Did you never ask yourself why you knew about the magic world without _being_ a witch? Why your mother seemed to know about it too, while she wasn't a witch either? Did it never ring a bell in your head?"

"Don't talk to me that way" Clarke gritted through her teeth, trying to not raise her voice in the middle of a corridor, "All of my friends are witches and wizards, of course I know about it". 

"But that doesn't _happen_ , Clarke" Lexa bit back, "Either you are a witch or wizard and know about the magic world, or you're an oblivious muggle who will get their memories wiped if they somehow suspect magic is real."

Clarke opened her mouth, but didn't have the occasion to talk as Lexa cut her off again. 

"You go on and on with a thousand questions per minute and yet you're still not capable of asking the good ones" Lexa threw at her, voice now thick with reproach, "Open your eyes, Clarke."

Clarke was left speechless, not having expected Lexa's sudden outburst. Clarke then shook her head, sadly chuckling. Of course Lexa would have gone back to her rude self at some point. 

"I think your point is made" Clarke then said, hurt about Lexa's words and behavior when she had thought they were finally starting to get along. Lexa seemed to notice the hurt not well hidden in Clarke's eyes, because her cold and mean face fell a little, enough for Clarke to see regret writing itself on the brunette's face. 

"Clarke..." Lexa started, with a much calmer voice. 

But Clarke had heard and seen enough of the brunette to be done with her. Without talking, she turned around and quickly walked away from Lexa, Aska following close. 

* * *

Clarke went back to her dorm, packing her books into her backpack, briefly wondering if she wanted to leave and come back to Hogwarts. After a few minutes, she decided against it; after all, it was a real chance to be able to study in Beauxbatons, and she didn't want Lexa to ruin that. After all, the school was even bigger than Hogwarts, surely Clarke could spend two more days here without running into Lexa. 

She quickly looked at her schedule, seeing that she didn't have class until this afternoon. Potions. That was good news, as she was seated next to Harper for the class. That way, Lexa wouldn't be a bother. Perfect. 

She wondered about what she was going to do with the rest of her morning; she looked at Aska, and took her coat out of her closet.

"Come on boy, want to see some people flying around?" Clarke asked to him, and then gestured for him to walk in front of her, heading to the Quidditch pitch. 

She lightly jogged all the way to the pitch, Aska enjoying being able to run around - although he was only running away for a couple of meters from Clarke, quickly returning to her and running back and forth all the way to the pitch.

At times like this, Clarke was really glad she had came upon her dog; he was a quiet companion who would always have her back. A loyal friend, devoted to her, protecting her at all times. She watched as Aska was running around, but with always an eye checking up on Clarke.

The blonde chuckled, not really understanding why he had always acted like that without her never teaching him anything. It was almost like he was born lto be by Clarke's side, and had only be patiently waiting in the shop for her to come find him. She still didn't know which creature he was, actually. Bellamy had told her, when she had first got him, that if he had find himself in the shop, it was because he was a magical creature. But Clarke had yet to discover with creature. She made a mental note to ask Raven, who seemed to have taken quite a liking to magical creatures and monsters. maybe she had read something about it.

They finally reached the pitch, which was, like Hogwarts', surrounded by stands in each house's colors. Clarke spotted Wick and Harper, sitting in Bellefeuille's stands, and quickly climbed the steps to join them. 

"Hi there Clarke" Harper smiled, waving at her friend who came to sit next to her. "Is everything ok? Where's Lexa?"

"I don't really care" Clarke only answered, looking around and trying to see if she could spot Emori on her broomstick. 

Harper didn't push it, and Clarke was grateful for it; she didn't really want to talk about what Lexa had told her yet. 

"Look, Emori's there" Wick then pointed his finger towards a moving silhouette. 

Clarke followed her with her eyes; Wick had been right when he said the girl had skills; Emori was doing great on her broomstick, flying better than the rest of the students participating in the trials. A few feet up the trying students, a girl was keeping a stationary position and seemed to be supervising the whole thing. 

"That's Diana Viny" Harper said, noticing that Clarke was watching her, "She's _Bellefeuille_ 's team captain and their best chaser. One of Beauxbatons' best quidditch player ever."

Clarke nodded as a thank you for the explanation, keeping her eyes on the Diana girl. 

"All four Viny children are attending Beauxbatons" Wick explained, showing a couple of other students on their brooms. "Timothée Viny, the youngest, is still in pre-school but will probably be sorted next year. That's Jade and Nathalia here, chasers too."

"Both of them? So all three sisters are chasers?" Clarke asked. 

"Yup" Harper confirmed, "And they're good. But Diana is a sixth year student, so she'll leave the team soon. Jade play for _Papillonlisse_ , and Nathalia for _Ombrelune_ ". 

"They were all sorted in different houses?" Clarke noticed. 

Wick hummed as a confirmation, quickly showing them that it was going to be Emori's turn. "She's trying for Keeper" Harper told Clarke. " _Papillonlisse_ 's former keeper graduated last year."

"Trials are late in the year here" Clarke noted. 

"It's because we only start school in October" Wick explained. 

They continued chatting about Quidditch and everything else as they were looking at the trials. Clarke was finding herself thinking she would actually rather enjoy playing quidditch; as she was watching Diana Viny fly around and give advices and instructions, she was mesmerized by the way she seemed to only make one with her broomstick, almost as if she wasn't even thinking about it as she was floating around. 

An hour later and trials were finally over. They got down on the pitch and were joined by Murphy who had been helping supervising the trials and they waited for Emori, who was listening to the team captains' last instructions. When she was done, Emori came up to them, a smile on her face. 

"I think it went well" She told them, looking confident. "Matthew, _papillonlisse_ 's captain, said we would have the results in a couple days". 

As it was approaching noon and that they had class at 1pm, Emori quickly went back to her dorm to change clothes while the others headed for the mess hall to eat lunch. Unconsciously, Clarke found herself looking around for Lexa, which had been nowhere to be seen since their fight earlier this morning. Clarke didn't know if she was relieved to be left alone, or if she was worried about it.

As they were sitting down at an empty table and filling their plates, Clarke noticed as a group of students were animatedly chatting, with other students around them listening. 

"They are the select few fifth years that went abroad this semester" Wick explained why they seemed to cause some fuss. "It's a big chance, being able to go study somewhere else. I mean, you know that, obviously". 

Clarke frowned. She still didn't really know why Dumbledore had suggested to Lexa to take her. The more she was thinking about it, the more she was sensing that there was more to it than what Lexa had told her. But then again, Clarke was pretty convinced Lexa was hiding quite a lot from her already, so it wouldn't be such a surprise if the brunette had only told her half-a-truth about this trip. 

"How does someone is selected to go abroad?" Clarke asked Wick. 

"I don't really know" Wick sighed, "It's very secret. Actually, I'm not even a 100% sure they do study, wherever they go" Wick voiced his concerns. "Students who did go abroad don't talk about it when they come back. All they say is that is was life-changing, that they saw beautiful landscapes, things like that."

"My brother went abroad when he was at the school" Emori said, and Clarke frowned at the sadness that seemed to be laced with her voice, which left her wondering why, "And he never told us where he went. I don't even know if he really went to another school."

Clarke saw Murphy offer her a sympathetic smile, and put a reminder in the back of her head to ask Harper about Emori's brother later. 

"How are students selected to go abroad in Hogwarts?" Harper then asked Clarke. 

"I don't know" Clarke shrugged, "But I don't think they do… Lexa's only coming back because she went to pre-school here" Clarke told them, "Or some other reasons I don't of" She then added, "But I only came here because _she_ asked me to come with her on her trip. I don't think anyone knows about me being here" Clarke frowned. "I mean, I didn't even know I was coming to Beauxbatons until I saw the school, so…"

They ate the rest of their meal in silence, their minds running about what it could mean. Then, it was time to go to class, and Clarke followed Harper in the corridors, heading for the potions' classroom. 

They turned in their assignments and started studying another potion. Clarke was happy to discover that they had already studied this one with Snape, and so she wouldn't have too much work to do on it. Explaining what she knew about it to Harper, the duo made a quick work to prepare the potion and received congratulations from the teacher, making Clarke feel proud of herself for one of the first times about her magic abilities. 

During the whole class, Clarke forced herself to be focused on their task at hands and not look behind her towards Lexa, who was probably constantly watching her as always.

Potions class was quickly over, and Harper had to go to another class, which Clarke wasn't attending to. Having nothing to do as she only had potions class, not wanting to do homework just yet and wanting to escape from Lexa, she decided to go outside again and enjoy the sun. Octavia and Raven had sent an owl the day before, telling her it was snowing at home, so Clarke was glad the weather was warmer here in Beauxbatons. 

Aska was once again really happy to be outside, and Clarke promised herself to spend more time outdoors so he could run around more frequently. Not really knowing her way around the french school, Clarke found herself on the way to the quidditch pitch once again, where she could see people were training. Getting up in the stands again, she stat down, looking around as students were flying around and tossing a ball at each other. Focused on the moving students, she didn't notice the two girls approaching her, and sitting a few sits from her. 

"You're the Hogwarts girl" One of them said with a perfect English accent, making Clarke slightly jump, not expecting someone to speak up. She turned towards the voice, recognizing the two girls. The Viny sisters, Clarke remembered, but having already forgotten their names. 

"Clarke Griffin" Clarke introduced herself. "And I'm from Hogwarts indeed."

" _Griffin_ " The girl who seemed like the older one raised her eyebrows, chuckling, as the other girl couldn't keep still on her seat at Clarke's words. "Of course. I knew you looked familiar". 

Clarke frowned at that, opening her mouth to question her, but didn't have the time to ask anything as the other girl talked. 

"So, which house?" she excitedly asked as her sister was rolling her eyes. 

"Calm down, Jade" She told her sister, "She must be Gryffindor. Right?" 

Clarke nodded, not very sure how the girl could be so sure of that. 

"I'm Nathalia" She introduced herself. "Fourth year, _Ombrelune_ house. And that's my sister, Jade" She gestured to the younger girl. 

"Third year" The girl smiled at Clarke, "I'm a _Papillonlisse_."

Clarke nodded at the both of them, trying to figure out if they were friendly or just talking with her because she was some kind of curiosity. 

"How long are you staying?" Nathalia asked, watching the students on the pitch. Clarke noticed how her eyes were almost grey, and with her clothes' light purple, Clarke could swear her eyes seemed to be a bit purple, too. She was a pretty teenager, with dark hair as dark as Octavia's, and her whole attitude was creating mystery around her. 

"I'm leaving tomorrow" Clarke answered. 

"Already?" Jade frowned, visibly sad about the information, and Clarke almost chuckled, not understanding the girl's behavior. 

"Yeah, it was only for a week" Clarke told her. 

Nathalia nodded. "How are you with a broomstick, Clarke?" 

"Average" Clarke shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had a lot of lessons yet, but I guess I'm on the better-half of my class."

Nathalia hummed again, not looking at the blonde. 

"You play Quidditch, right?" Clarke questioned. 

"We're chasers" Jade told her, looking proud. "Our older sister is a chaser, too." Clarke nodded, remembering Wick telling her about Bellefeuille's quidditch captain being the older Viny siblings. 

They stayed quiet for a while, as they were watching the students train. A few times, Jade's eyes would trail off on Aska, and Clarke could see she was dying to pet him. 

"He doesn't like to be touched by strangers" Clarke then said with apologizing eyes to Jade, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be" It was Nathalia who answered, "My sister knows. Aska answers to you and only you."

Clarke was stunned; how could the girl know her dog's name? Nathalia must have understood the surprised look on Clarke's face, as she talked again. 

"He told me" She said, explaining why she knew Aska's name. Clarke didn't answer; after Lexa, it was the second person telling her Aska himself had told them his name. And what did they mean, he _told_ them ? 

"We have to go" Nathalia got up, gesturing for her sister to do the same, and then turned around to face Clarke. 

"Same travels back to Hogwarts, Clarke" She offered a small smile to the blonde. "Next time you come, I'll train you for Quidditch."

"Until next time!" Jade waved at her as the sisters were getting down the stands. 

Before Clarke could tell them she probably wouldn't come back and ask why they were sure they would see each other again, they were already gone and out of sight. Sighing, Clarke started walking towards the palace too, figuring out it was time for her to get back to her homework. After all, she still hadn't started writing the paper McGonagall had asked for. 

* * *

The night was slowly settling in as Lexa was walking fast in the corridors as she was heading for the mess hall. The room was almost empty, except for a table where a little group of students were still chatting. 

Lexa walked up to them, greeting the ones she hadn't seen today. 

"Hi Lexa" One of the boys said, "How's Hogwarts?"

"Fine "Lexa answered, "And you, your trip?"

"Fine, too" The boy eluded, a bit like Lexa had done. They were used to it, only partially answering questions. They had know each other for a long time. Lexa then turned over to one of the girls. 

"We need to talk" Lexa said, and the rest of the group got up, leaving them alone. 

Once they were gone, Lexa sat in front of the girl, who was watching her with a hint of amusement in her eyes. 

"Your sisters went to see Clarke" Lexa told her. The other girl didn't seem shook about it. Actually, she even seemed like she knew about it already. 

"I don't _control_ them, Lexa" The older girl rolled her eyes, "They do what they want, regardless of what I tell them."

"It's too soon Diana, and you know it" Lexa continued. 

"Clarke wasn't supposed to even _be_ there" The quidditch player protested, "And that is _your_ doing. Don't blame my sisters for being curious."

"Clarke can't know." Lexa ignored Diana's words. 

"But she _will_ _"_ Diana retorqued, "You underestimate her. Just because we don't wear the same family name doesn't mean she won't find out about it." Diana stopped talking for a few seconds, then started again. "Nathalia thinks it doesn't make any sense. She will probably try to speed up Clarke's discovery process anyways. And Jade, well" Diana half-sighed, half-chuckled, "She can't wait to spend time with Clarke."

"It will put her in too much danger. We keep her in the dark so she can be _safe_ " Lexa urged. 

"Stop fooling yourself" Diana scoffed, "You don't know the half of it, Lexa. There is no _keeping her safe_ , believe me; it's an utopia her parents chose to blind themselves with. It's bigger than you know, even bigger than you can imagine" Diana told her.

"What are you talking about?" Lexa asked, getting upset by the minute. 

"You are eleven, Lexa. being an heir doesn't keep you from ignoring a couple things" Diana only answered. "I say it's better we give her keys to protect _herself_ instead of babying her. You have to outgrow your tutor, too". 

"And what do you think I'm trying to do?" Lexa bit back. 

"Look, Lexa" Diana sighed, much calmer, "Clarke will find out eventually. They can't keep her in the dark forever, she won't respond well to it. She's a Griffin, after all. She's strong."

Lexa stayed silent. 

"I care about her too, you know that" Diana talked again. "But if my sisters want to be friend with her and it ends up with Clarke discovering everything, then so be it."

"You sound like my cousin" Lexa sighed. 

"I like Anya" Diana shrugged with a playful smile, "A shame she didn't stay around after pre-school". 

Lexa sighed. "Clarke's key to everything."

"I know" Diana hummed. "But she's not a pawn to be used and tossed around."

Then Diana got up, taking her backpack from the ground. She nodded at Lexa as a goodbye and headed towards the doors. She then spotted and turned around to face Lexa again. 

"You know, when you mentioned Aska being with Clarke, in your letters?" Diana said, suddenly thinking about it, "I didn't want to believe it, at first. She really is key to everything."

And she was out of the room. Lexa stayed alone at her table for a few minutes, before deciding it was time to go back to her dorm and face whatever mood Clarke was in. 

* * *

Things were hard for Lexa that night. When she came into the dorm, Clarke was already in her bed, Aska sleeping in the spot next to her; the spot where Lexa had slept in for a week. The message was clear, and Lexa could sense that Aska, usually friendly with her, wouldn't let her approach the blonde this time. 

Sighing, Lexa got into her pyjamas, sliding herself under her cold covers, feeling as lonely as ever. For a good solid two hours, she tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep, her mind so full of thoughts her head was starting to hurt. Then, Lexa stilled when she heard Clarke turned over in her bed. Fearing that she had woke the blonde up, Lexa stopped moving, listening for proofs that Clarke was still asleep. 

But Clarke was not, as Lexa then heard her whisper. "Aska, down" Clarke whispered to her companion, and Lexa heard tiny steps on the wooden floor as Aska was probably going to go settle by the bed's foot. Lexa frowned as she heard the floor crack; it couldn't be Aska moving, he wasn't heavy enough. 

Then she heard Clarke again, who should be standing somewhere in the dark not far from Lexa's bed as her voice was getting closer and closer. 

Finally, Lexa felt her own covers move, as a body was sliding next to her and laying down on the mattress, only a few centimeters from her. 

"Sleep now, Lexa" Clarke whispered as the brunette felt a weight settle by their feet, probably Aska. "I'm here." 

At the words, Lexa's whole body immediately relaxed, only now noticing how tense she must have been for the last two hours, no wonder that sleep wasn't coming. She settle back on her pillow, listening to Clarke's quiet breathing. 

ten minutes later, Lexa was alseep. 


	13. The Philosopher's Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holidays are over and everyone comes back to Hogwarts. They talk about Nicolas Flamel and have a lot of ideas of what they would do with such a stone.

** Chapter 13 : The Philosopher Stone **

It was their last day in Beauxbatons, so both girls were packing their belongings back into their suitcases. Clarke had left the room early, going to turn in both their papers for charms' class before they had to go back to Hogwarts.

Looking around the room, Lexa took a few seconds to wrap her head about what had been set in motion. This room, they would often come back to it, Lexa was sure of it. She closed her suitcase, putting all of her beauxbatons' clothes back into her closet. She still had one person more to see before they left, so she started walking towards where she knew he would be.

Sitting in the outside courtyard, Lexa spotted them quickly, and walked over to them.

"Lexa" One of the boys greeted her.

"Iago" Lexa nodded back to the sixth year student. It was the same boy she had talked to, last night. Diana was there, too.

The boy got up, gesturing for Lexa to take a few steps apart from the rest of the group. "When are you leaving?" Iago asked.

A bit like Diana, he was tall, with a thin silhouette and blond hair almost white-looking which was making him look like he was already eighteen years old, instead of his real fifteen years old. He had a facial faded scar, running from the top of his right eyebrow all the way to the middle of his cheek; which was adding to making him look older. 

"In a couple of hours" Lexa answered.

He nodded as he was discreetly watching around them, probably looking for someone.

"And Brazil?" Lexa then asked, "Did you find them?"

"The Murray siblings?" Iago told her, "Yes, I did. They will help, when the time comes. They're good at what they're doing."

Lexa nodded, visibly relieved at the new piece of information. Iago studied her for a few minutes, trying to decide something.

"Diana told me her sisters had talked to Clarke" He then said. "You think it's too soon?"

Lexa sighed, shrugging her shoulders, and Iago found himself thinking that Lexa looked tired. He had not seen Lexa too often, but with her only eleven years, he knew she already had a big weight on her shoulders. They all were, really; after Brazil, and this year, Iago was so very tired too; both physically and emotionaly, every discovery taking its toll on him. 

"I just know that if they chose to keep her in the dark at some point, they must have had good reasons." Lexa told him.

"Maybe" Iago shrugged, "But that was before she received her letter. The rules changed when she did." Iago didn't know every detail; but he had been Diana's friend for a lot of years now, and he had sworn himself to her. The reasons why, he would never tell another soul from now on. 

Lexa nodded, knowing that the blonde boy was right. "I just..." Lexa sighed again, "With Harry Potter attending the school this year too, it is too much of a coincidence."

"Don't worry too much for now" Iago told her. "Dumbledore will protect them. He'll watch over the Potter boy, and give him clues when needed. As for Clarke... Dumbledore trusts us to do the job, and Diana won't let us fail." He said. "Clarke's not alone".

He stopped talking for a few seconds, they spoke again. "Until next time, Lexa. And I look forward to meeting her."

Lexa sighed as the boy went back to his group of friends, leaving Lexa wondering if everything that they were doing had a point if they couldn't be sure of anything.

* * *

Waiting for Lexa to come find her and tell her it was time to go, Clarke was walking around in the palace, enjoying the last bits of sun she could before going back to a snowy sky at Hogwarts. She then spotted a big fountain, in the middle of a courtyard she had not went to yet. Gesturing for Aska to follow her -although she knew he would have followed her even if she had not told her anything - and went to sit by it, grateful for the calm that seems to float all around her.

Clarke watched as a group of friends walked by her, animately talking. Clarke recognised a few of them as the fifth students that had just come back from being abroad. Then, she looked as one of the girl turned around to face Clarke, seemed to think about something for a few minutes and gestured to her friends to go ahead without her.

Clarke frowned as the girl came towards her; Clarke recognised her from the quidditch trials. Diana, Bellefeuille's chaser.

"Hello Clarke" The girl said, holding out her hand for Clarke to shake, "I heard you've met my sisters."

"You're Diana Viny" Clarke nodded, "The older one." Clarke didn't know why a sixth year would come and talk to her, but then again, there was a thousand things she didn't seem to have explanations for. 

"Yes" Diana confirmed, briefly looking around her and then coming to sit by Clarke's side. "You're leaving today?"

"Yeah" Clarke nodded, "I'm waiting for Lexa".

"Ah, Lexa" Diana smiled. "She's the one who brought you here, correct?"

Clarke hummed, and then suddenly remembered something.

"Diana, you play quidditch too right?" Clarke asked, thinking about what she had looked at with Harper a few days ago, "Do you know about some of Beauxbatons' former players?"

"Some of them, yes" Diana nodded, having a feeling about what Clarke was going to ask next.

"Can you tell me about a... Anthony Griffin?" Clarke questioned.

Diana didn't answer straight away, only giving a small smile to Clarke, thinking that Clarke was indeed a really smart person.

"He was a beater for Bellefeuille, a couple of dozens years ago. Almost made it into the French's national Quidditch team" Diana then told her.

"I know that" Clarke frowned, struggling to make Diana understand what she really wanted to know, "I just... My name's Griffin" Clarke finally confessed. "And I was wondering if perhaps, he was part of my family tree."

Diana looked at the blonde for a couple of seconds, and Clarke noticed she seemed to be debating with herself on whether she should tell her something or not. Clarke was getting familiar with that expression, as Lexa always wore it when she was deciding whether to lie or tell the truth.

But Diana smiled again, probably having made her decision. "He was your father's grandfather".

Clarke froze, stunned by the information. She had never knew she had family on her father's side, her parents never mentioning any relatives from either part of them.

"How do you know that?" Clarke then asked.

"Griffins have always been great quidditch players" Diana explained. "I know a bit about that family tree."

"And how do you know we are from the same family then?" Clarke frowned, "There must be hundreds of wizards called Griffin".

"There is not, actually" Diana mysteriously said. "Trust me on this."

Clarke couldn't explain why, she had a feeling like she could actually trust the older girl; same feeling she had had with her two other sisters, Nathalia and Jade, when she had met them the day before. For whatever reasons, Clarke was slowly starting to realise that some people seemed to know her somehow, and were friendly with her even when she didn't know them. She was now sure there were a thousand secrets surrounding her, and she was now determined to figure it all out, with people's help or not.

Clarke let her eyes wander around for a few seconds, when she spotted a shining tag, nailed into the fountain's stones. Taking a closer look, her eyes widened as she was reading the inscriptions on it.

"Diana" Clarke quickly asked, "Those names on the tag, they lived here?"

Diana turned around to look at what Clarke was pointing. "Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel, yes" She answered. "They were students here, back in their days. They are like... Masters of Alchemy. Why?"

"I forgot, with all this..." Clarke started to ramble, ""We've been researching about him and..."

"Why would you do that?" Diana frowned, "Alchemy is not a course studied by students until their fifth or sixth year".

"We..." Clarke wondered about telling Diana about Snape and what was hidden under the trap-door back in Hogwarts, and then decided it wouldn't do any wrong to tell her. "We have reasons to believe they are hidding something in my school, something that could have belonged to Nicolas Flamel?"

"I don't see what it could be" Diana shrugged, trying to make sense of Clarke's words, "He never did anything except... Oh" Diana suddenly stopped talking, her eyes widening as if she had just figured something out.

"Come on" She gestured for Clarke to follow her as she started walking fast in the corridors, the younger blonde following her steps, confused. "Ask Aska to go fetch my sister" Diana told her.

Clarke, intrigued but doing as she was told, gave a nod to Aska, who left them, running away from the two of them. But Clarke then remembered she hadn't told which sister to fetch. "I didn't tell him which sister!"

"It's ok, he'll know" Diana only answered, lightly directing Clarke into a room she had yet to discover.

It appeared to be a small library, with books all over the walls; it was not as huge as Hogwarts' library, and Clarke wondered if it was Beauxbatons' mere library or some sort of stored room for the books which didn't fit in the principal one.

Diana gave her the explanation a couple of seconds later, lighting up some candles. "It's a secondary library, for anciens books and foreign ones" Diana cleared up, "There's also some books which were written by Beauxbatons' students, and which original hand-written copies are kept here."

The tall blonde got up on a ladder, starting to scroll through the books on one of the top shelves. Then, Clarke heard light footsteps coming towards them, with then heavier footsteps too. Aska was back, running into the room and quickly going to Clarke, sitting down by her feet.

Nathalia entered the room a couple of seconds later, cheeks a bit pink from the running she had just done.

"Diana?" She called as she was coming into the room, not spotting Clarke a few feet away from the door, "Aska came to me, I thought Clarke..." She then noticed Clarke. "Oh, hi Clarke." Nathalia cut herself off from telling too much as her older sister made herself known, speaking from up the ladder.

"We're fine, Thalia" Diana said. "Do you remember about Flamel's book?"

"Flamel's book..." Nathalia first frowned, for her eyes to widen only a second later. "Oh yeah, the book."

"Find it" Her sister ordered.

Nathalia nodded, taking a deep breath. Clarke watched as the girl closed her eyes, joining her hands together palm against palm. Then, she quickly opened her arms, sending what Clarke believed was a wave of shock all around the room. Stunned, Clarke saw as the shockwave seemed to scan all the books at once, until there were only one left, glowing as if it had somehow turned neon blue.

Diana got down from her ladder, going up another one to retrieve the glowing book; which immediately ceased to glow the second Diana had put one finger on it.

"What was that...?" Clarke whispered, still stunned about what she had seen. Nathalia had done magic, without using a verbal spell, without even having to use her wand.

"It's extra-corporal magic" Diana answered. "Nathalia can move small objects and locate them, when she knows what she's looking for."

"Like an _accio_ spell" Clarke murmured as she remembered about something she had read on one of her charms' books, "How did you learn to do that..?" Clarke pressed on.

"I didn't" Nathalia shrugged. "Born like this."

But Clarke didn't have the opportunity to ask any more questions as Diana had found what she had been searching for.

"Look, Clarke" Diana showed her the book page, "It's written here. Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the philosopher's stone."

"The philosopher's stone? What's that?" Clarke frowned.

"It's a stone capable of changing any material into gold." Nathalia said.

"Most importantly, it produces the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker, well... Immortal" Diana added.

"I'm sorry, but why are we looking at this?" Nathalia asked, a bit confused.

"Clarke thinks people at Hogwarts are hiding something, which could have belonged to Nicolas Flamel" Diana told her younger sister.

"Oh" Nathalia hummed, eyes filling with something that Clarke couldn't really put her finger on.

"Listen Clarke, whatever you think is happening at your school, stay away from it, you hear me?" Diana suddenly closed the book, making Clarke slightly jump at the sudden move. "If your headmaster keep this from the students, maybe he has good reasons."

"Well we'll see about that" Clarke shrugged, getting a bit uspet with Diana's sudden change of behavior.

"I am serious, Clarke" Diana repeated, but with a much more calmer voice. "We have to go" She told her sister, "And Lexa is probably looking for you."

Clarke watched as the two sisters were heading out of the room. At the last second, Diana turned over to look at Clarke a last time, a small smile on her face.

"We'll see you soon, Clarke. Stay safe for us, alright?"

Clarke slowly nodded; and the girls had disappeared. Frowning, Clarke got out of the room, Aska on her heels, Diana's words resonating under her skull. _Stay safe for us_. What did it mean?

* * *

Clarke hadn't had time to dwell on Diana's words as Harper, Wick, Emori and Murphy were walking towards her to say goodbye before she had to leave. 

"So Clarke, when will we see you again?" Emori asked. 

"I don't know" Clarke truthfully answered, "I mean, I'm only here because of Lexa, I don't know if..."

"Well, she comes back often" Harper smiled, "Ask her to tag along, next time she leaves Hogwarts! We'll be waiting for you."

Clarke gratefully nodded at her new friends, promising them to write letters and not forget about them.Then, the group spotted Lexa, standing a few feet away from them, talking with the man Clarke believed was her tutor, Titus. 

"You better go" Wick winked at her, "Or the bald guy will probably be angry". 

Clarke chuckled, hugging them one last time, and waving goodbye at them while she was walking back to Lexa, now waiting for her. 

Lexa gestured for them to get into the coach, as their luggages were already strapped to it, ready for them to leave Beauxbatons. Aska laying down at her feet, Clarke noticed how Lexa wasn't meeting her eyes, as if she was trying to focus herself on anything else than Clarke. 

Bored with the silence and knowing they still had a long way to go before they reached Hogwarts, Clarke spoke at loud, getting Lexa out of her thoughts. 

"Who is this man you were talking to? The one who greeted us on our first day?" Clarke asked, although she already knew the answer, but wanting to know more. 

"My tutor" Lexa sighed, not really in the mood to talk about him.

"And what about your parents?" Clarke curiously questioned, trying to gauge Lexa's reaction to the mention of her parents, who seemed to not be present in her life. 

"My parents died when I was little" Lexa said. "Titus is in charge of me since then."

"I'm sorry" Clarke murmured. 

"It's ok" Lexa shrugged, "I don't remember them."

Clarke nodded, even if she was still a bit sorry and sad for the brunette; herself knew how it was, to have a parent missing. 

"What about you?" Lexa surprisingly asked, restarting the conversation again. 

"I live with my mom" Clarke answered, "Although our relationship is… Strained?"

"Why?" Lexa turned herself towards Clarke, sincerely curious, although she already had a vague idea. 

"I don't really know" Clarke sadly said, "But with my dad gone, and with the long hours she does at the hospital… Wait" Clarke then suddenly stopped, remembering something the brunette had said. "Why did you say my mother was lying, the other day?"

"Because it is true, Clarke" Lexa truthfully answered although fearful of starting yet another fight, "No one can know about magic and not be from the wizarding world themselves. Muggles who learn about it get their memories wiped out."

"Really?" Clarke frowned. 

"Maybe your mother is an exception" Lexa gently told her, "But I wouldn't be so sure. Or maybe she's a squib."

"A squib?" Clarke raised a brow at the brunette. 

"Someone with wizards parents, but born without powers" Lexa explained. "Like Filch, back to Hogwarts."

"But that would mean for some of my grandparents to be wizards and I don't…" Clarke stopped talking, wheels turning fast into her head. "Diana said Anthony Griffin was my father's grandfather" Clarke told Lexa, "So he _was_ a wizard. Surely all the rest of the family can't be squib? It's rare, isn't it?"

"It is pretty rare indeed" Lexa nodded, "Although one time, a wizard got seven sons, seven squibs. Turned them into hedgehogs."

Clarke frowned, because who would turn their sons into hedgehogs?

"By now, we are sure I'm a witch, or I wouldn't have been able to get on a broom, or do the _leviosa_ spell, right?" Clarke asked Lexa. 

"Yes, Clarke, you are a witch" Lexa confirmed, slightly amused. 

"Ok, alright" Clarke sighed, relieved to be sure of it, even if she wouldn't admit it. "So people, outside of my father's grandfather, are wizards in my family, too."

"It is likely so, yes" Lexa nodded again. 

They fell back into silence, as Clarke was turning her mind over and over again to elucidate this mystery. But then again, everything she could think of was a dead end; her parents had never talked to her about the rest of the family, neither of them close to their own parents. Clarke had never met one of her grandparents. 

But Clarke's trail of thoughts was interrupted, as Lexa was gesturing at something outside of her window. They were back in Hogwarts. 

* * *

Classes were starting in two days, and most of the students were already back at the school. Jumping from the coach, Clarke smiled, happy to be back in a more familiar place than Beauxbatons. A man told them their suitcases would be waiting in their rooms and now used to it, Clarke didn't question it. 

"Clarke!" Someone shouted as two persons were running towards her and jumping at her neck, "You're back!"

Clarke chuckled as her two favorite idiots were pampering her face with kisses. "Stop it!" Clarke laughed, trying to push her friends off her. 

Looking at her, Octavia and Raven were grinning, happy to all be reunited again. "Come on, the others are waiting for you". 

Clarke nodded, then threw a look towards Lexa. Clarke was feeling a little bit guilty with leaving the brunette on her own; but then again, Lexa had not always been the perfect friend, and the blonde hadn't decide if she wanted Lexa to be her friend or not. 

Lexa only nodded at her, silently telling her to go join her friends, and started walking back to the castle. 

"Come on" Octavia linked their arms together, "Hermione's back, and she's a bit disappointed at the boys."

"Disappointed?" Clarke frowned. 

"Oh, you'll see" Raven chuckled, linking Clarke's other arm with her own. 

In Gryffindor's common room, Harry and Ron were looking like they were having a bad moment, as Hermione seemed to be scolding them. Raven had made it into the common too, and Clarke threw a interrogating look at her, silently asking her how could she be standing in Gryffindor's common room when she was a Ravenclaw, but all Raven did was grin at her like she was carrying some kind of secret. But Clarke didn't had time to question it further as Hermione could be heard, grumbling at the boys. 

"What happened?" Clarke chuckled, getting closer to her friends, happy to see them. 

"Clarke, you're here" Hermione huffed, although it was directed at the boys,"Those two spent Christmas wandering at nights in the castle, and didn't find anything on Nicolas Flamel into the restricted area."

"Oh, Nicolas Flamel!" Clarke exclaimed, then sat down in front of them as curious eyes were focusing on her, "I know about him. He was a master of Alchemy" Clarke told them, repeating Diana's words, "He and his wife, Perenelle, went to Beauxbatons, they have a fountain with their names on it". 

"France's Wizardry school!" Ron frowned, "That's where you've been for the past week?"

"Yes" Clarke nodded. "I've met some interesting people there, and one of them told me about Flamel. He seemed to be the only one in possession of something called… The _philosopher's stone_?"

Hermione jumped on her feet. She hadn't look so excited since they had got back the marks for their very first piece of homework. Which she had nailed, of course. 

"Stay there!" She ordered them, sprinting out of the room and into the girls' dormitories, coming back a couple of minutes later, holding a big and heavy book into her arms. 

"I got this out of the library weeks ago" Hermione said, dropping the book in front of them. 

"Hermione Granger, you're a _delinquant_ " Raven grinned at her, "Getting books out of the library when it's forbidden!" 

Hermione threw a dark look at her, and then started flicking quickly through the pages. 

"I knew it!" She then exclaimed, "Clarke, you were right. Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the philosopher's stone."

"The _what_ now?" Ron frowned. 

"Don't you read?" Hermione threw him another dark look. " _The stone will transform any metal in pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal_." Hermione read at loud, repeating Diana's words to Clarke. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's philosopher's stone!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought" Clarke nodded. 

"I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him because he knew someone was after it" Octavia said. 

"Yeah, that must be why he wanted the stone moved from Gringotts!" Hermione added, remembering what Harry had said about Gringotts' robbery and the package Hagrid had taken from a vault. 

A stop that turns any metal into gold and makes you immortal, no wonder Snape wants it" Harry snorted, " _Anyone_ would want it". 

They stayed silent for a bit, thinking about what they had just discovered. 

"I mean, if I could get my hands on this, I would probably buy myself a thousand bikes" Raven grinned at them with some wicked light in her eyes. 

"I would choose immortality" Octavia answered back. 

"Hermione would probably buy all the books on Earth" Clarke chuckled, as Hermione was sticking her tongue out at her with a playful smile. 

"And what would _you_ do Clarke, if you had the philosopher's stone?" Hermione retorqued, "? Be immortal?"

"Immortal sounds lonely" Clarke shrugged. "I don't know, travel, maybe?"

"Of course you would say that" Ron rolled his eyes, "Not everyone got the chance to go to Beauxbatons for Christmas!"

"Don't be a jerk, Ron" Hermione scolded him, "If Dumbledore agreed, it must have been for some kind of reasons."

"Whatever" Ron said, "With the stone, I think I would buy myself my own quidditch team!" 

"Oh, speaking of Quidditch" Harry then soberly said, bringing everyone back on more serious matter, "Snape is referee for my next quidditch match against Hufflepuff."

"What?" Clarke frowned, "I thought he was never referee?"

"I thought so too" Ron sighed, "But people say he insisted on refereeing the match this time."

"It can't be good" Raven said, "I mean, didn't he try to get you off your broom last time?"

"He did" Harry nodded. "Hermione saw him mouthing a spell." 

"Then you _can't_ play" Clarke told him. "It's too dangerous. Plus, Snape will probably favor Hufflepuff."

"If I don't play" Harry answered, "All the Slytherins will think I'm too scared to face Snape. I'll show them" The boy confidently said, "It'll really wipe the smiles out of their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the pitch" Hermione snorted. 

* * *

Next morning, they were all sat at Gryffindor's table for breakfast, lightly chatting about what next semester would bring upon them. After Beauxbatons, Clarke was really looking forwards to the next charms classes and even if she didn't want to admit it, she kind of was looking forwards to potions classes, too. 

"So Clarke, Beauxbatons, right?" One of the Weasleys twins asked her, a grin on his face, "They say they have the prettiest witches over there. truth or lies?"

"I mean, I don't know" Clarke chuckled, "But there're lots of boys, too".

"And here I was, thinking about asking Dumbledore to let me transfer schools so I could be surrounded by beautiful women" The other twin exaggeratedly sighed, making the group either chuckle or groan at the twins' behaviors. 

"So you took classes there?" Harry then asked, curious about the place Clarke had been. 

"Yeah" Clarke nodded, "I followed classes like Beauxbatons' first years. A lot of them are quite similar to Hogwarts' classes actually."

"I wonder why Lexa would take you there" Ron said at loud, "And how Dumbledore knew about it. And actually _agreed_ to it."

"I don't know either" Clarke shrugged, the same questions running over and over in her mind since Lexa had asked her to come along. Then, she remembered about the students she had met, and her discoveries on her own family. 

"Ron, you know quite a lot about quidditch players, right?" Clarke then asked the redhead. 

"Yeah, a bit" Ron shrugged, "But my brother Charlie's the real specialist. Almost made it into England's national team, if it hadn't been for his love of dragons."

"Our brother is a weird dude" Georges nodded along, although you could see he really admired his older brother. 

"In Beauxbatons, I met with one of the houses' quidditch team' captain, Diana Viny?" Clarke asked him. 

"I don't know…" Ron thought about it for a couple of seconds, for his eyes then to widen. "Oh, I've seen this name!" He rummaged through his pockets, getting out what seemed like a crumpled magazine, "I've read about her in this quidditch paper than Mom sent me during the holidays."

"So you _do_ read" Hermione noted, "Just not about classes."

Ron stuck his tongue at her, then showed Clarke an article into the magazine. "Look" He said, "This paper always has a section for promising students" He pointed to Clarke, "She was last year's Student of the Year" He explained, showing him Diana's picture and the article written about her. 

"Yeah, in Beauxbatons they told me she was one of the best players Beauxbatons ever had" Clarke told them. 

"They say her sisters are quite good, too" Ron added, reading through the article. "Why do you ask?"

"She told me things" Clarke said, "About my family. I was wondering how she knew about it all. Do you know about a Anthony Griffin, quidditch player, too?"

"It doesn't ring a bell" Ron shrugged, "But maybe Charlie knows."

"Don't bother your brother for this" Clarke told him, "I'll find out eventually."

"Anthony _Griffin_ ?" Octavia frowned, "Like you?"

"That's what Diana said" Clarke nodded. "He is supposed to be my father's grandfather."

"But you don't have any family other than your parents" It was Raven's turn to frown. 

"That's what I thought, too" Clarke sighed, "But she seemed pretty sure about it."

"Weird" Ron said. 

"Why don't you ask your mother about it?" Hermione suggested, "Maybe she knows something about it."

"But if she does, why hide it from me all those years?" Clarke asked. 

"You know Clarke" Octavia offered, "I have the feeling our parents hid quite a lot from all of us. Maybe it's time we get answers."

Clarke absently nodded, lost in her thoughts. Octavia was right; herself and Bellamy didn't even know how their parents had died, only that their father was already gone by Octavia's birth, and their mother gone one day without any explanations. Raven's parents too were gone, Clarke's father too… All of them, somehow linked with the wizard world, one way or another. Lexa had said it herself : Abby couldn't know about wizards and _not_ be part of the wizard world herself. 

"I think it's time I write to my mother" Clarke said. 


	14. The Norvegian Ridgeback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gryffindor's quidditch team goes for the win, and Draco is not too happy about that. Clarke struggles with a ton of homework. A dragon, you said?

** Chapter 14 : The Norvegian Ridgeback **

Classes had started again, and Clarke was happily surprised to find out that her potions' papers, which she had done during her Beauxbatons' trip, got a 75 over 100 grade; to the great damn of Snape, who didn't look too happy to give her good grades. 

"I don't know how you did it, Griffin" He had said to her with a disdainful voice, a wince on his face and almost throwing the paper at her face, "But I'll find out how you cheated next time."

Even Hermione was surprised to see Clarke getting good grades; it was not that Clarke was stupid or anything, but it was true that when it came to potions' course, she wasn't really good at it, and the Blonde agreed… But Clarke had then explained to them how her Beauxbatons' friends - and Lexa- had tutored her and helped her with understanding the classes. 

Getting out of the classroom, they spotted Raven a few feet away, waiting for them. 

"I got an 85 on my Herbology's paper!" Raven exclaimed, proud of herself. 

"And Clarke got amazing grades in Potions' class too" Octavia chuckled. 

"What?" Raven frowned, "How is that possible?"

"Hey!" Clarke protested, lightly punching Raven on her shoulder, "I'm not _that_ bad!"

"Sorry Clarke" Octavia winced, "You kind of are…?"

Clarke grumbled as the rest of the group were laughing at her, heading towards their next class in common with Ravenclaw : defense against the dark arts. Clarke liked this class, although she was finding the teacher, Mister Quirrell, quite strange; there was something off about him, something she couldn't put her finger on, but Clarke tried to dismiss it, linking it to the fact that she was probably only just annoyed with his stuttering. 

After they were done with copying down every way known to wizards on how to treat a werewolf's bite, they headed for the great hall, where lunch was going to be served. Harry was not amongst them, as he had yet another quidditch training to get him ready for their next match. The rest of the group was quite anxious about it; what if Snape would try hurting Harry again? What could they do? Surely, putting Snape's cape on fire wouldn't work every time. 

Reading through her charms' book, it was Clarke that found a solution. A weak one, but one nevertheless. 

"We could use this spell" Clarke said to Hermione, showing her the book's page. "The leg-locker curse. If Snape tries anything". 

"I've seen Malefoy use it on Neville!" Ron exclaimed, "It's a pretty good spell. It could work". 

"Yes" Hermione agreed, "We could try that. Anything to distract him from cursing Harry is a good option anyways."

"Alright, so we'll practice this after class" Clarke decided. "To be ready for the game."

They all nodded, agreeing with the plan to protect Harry if Snape ever tried something. Speaking of Harry, he was now walking towards them, looking exhausted with his training, slopping down on the bench next to Ron. 

"You're ok?" Octavia asked him, sliding a full plate towards him. 

"I'm fine" He said, although he did look tired, "I just… I feel like I run into Snape wherever I go" He told them. "Like he's watching me. Us."

"yeah, I've had the feeling like he already knew we had learnt about the philosopher's stone" Ron murmured. "It's like he can read minds or something."

"But that's not possible, even for a wizard, right?" Clarke asked. 

"I don't know" Hermione truthfully answered, "But we have to keep our guards up. Gods knows what he is up to."

They all nodded to that, finishing up their lunches. Harry was getting nervous about the incoming game; it was their first chance to overtake Slytherin in the House Championship if they won this game, and no one had done it for nearly seven years; but as much as the idea was wonderful, they were all afraid of not having the chance to, with such a biased referee. 

* * *

Potions' classes became torture again for Clarke and Harry, even if the Blonde had caught up her delay in this course in Beauxbatons. Always looking at them with piercing eyes, doing everything he could to be mean and taking every opportunity to criticize them or their work, Snape was really becoming a villain they were starting to hate. Lexa wasn't as awful as she had been in past, but Clarke was almost feeling like talking to a wall; nothing compared to the kinder Lexa she had seen, back when they were in Beauxbatons. But, focused on giving Snape as few reasons to be a jerk with her as she could, she didn't waste time about it and focused on learning instead, putting thoughts of the green-eyed girl away from her mind.

They spent all their free time practicing the new spell on each other, trying to master it in order to be ready if they ever had to use it on Snape. Hermione was a good teacher, and with Clarke's help, who was pretty good with charms, the whole group became used to the spell and good at cursing it. 

The quidditch game was upon them soon enough, and in the stands, Neville was wondering why they all looked so worried and grim, and why they had brought their wands to the match. 

"Remember" Hermione whispered to them for the thousandth time of the day, "It's _Locomotor Mortis_ ". 

"We know" Ron snapped at her, "Don't nag."

"It _will_ be ok Hermione" Clarke smiled at the girl, "You've trained us well."

"Look" Octavia whispered, "The whole school came to watch" She gestured the different houses' stands, all full. 

"Even Dumbledore's here" Raven observed, spotting him in the teachers' stands. 

"Dumbledore?" Clarke frowned, "Is it usual for him to come to games?"

"Not really" Ron answered, "He usually only comes for finales". 

"At least Harry's safe" Hermione sighed with relief. "Nothing will happen to him if Dumbledore's watching."

They all hummed, filled with relief too, as Snape was walking on the pitch, looking quite angry. 

"I've never seen Snape look so mean" Ron told them, "Look, they're off. Outch!" 

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy, standing behind him. What the hell was he even doing in Gryffindor's stands? 

"Oh, sorry Weasley" Malfoy said, looking like he wasn't sorry at all, "I didn't see you there. I wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom, this time? Wanna bet?" He asked two of his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, Clarke believed were their names. "What about you, Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer, as they were all trying to focus, as Harry was circling in the air like a hawk, searching for the snitch. it was part of their strategy; the sooner Harry would catch the snitch, the sooner the game was over, and the sooner he could stop Snape from getting to him.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy said a few minutes later, apparently not done with the bullying as Snape was awarding Hufflepuff with a penalty for no reasons, "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money" He then turned towards Neville, "You should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"Stop it, Malfoy" Ron warned him, "One word word…"

"Look!" Hermione suddenly interrupted them, "Harry!"

They watched as Harry has suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, drawing gasps and cheers from the crowd.

"You're in luck, Weasley!" Malfoy said, "Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!"

Ron snapped, and before Draco had time to see it, the redhead was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground.

"Alright, fuck it" Raven said, jumping on the boy too and joining the fight, in the middle of the stand.

"Raven!" Clarke called her. "Aska, down!" She then called her dog, who seemed to want to jump into the fight too. 

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione then shouted as Neville, Crabbe and Goyle were joining the fight themselves.

Then suddenly, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hands, brandishing it for the crowd to see.

The stand erupted as all Gryffindor jumped on their feet, shouting and clapping for Harry, who had surely established a new record in catching the snitch so quickly.

"Ron! Raven!" Hermione exclaimed as they were still on the ground, fighting against Malefoy and his two comrades, "The game's over! Harry's won! We've won!"

"Yay!" Clarke shouted in turn as Octavia was hugging her, "Gryffindor for the lead!" 

On the pitch, Harry was jumping out of his broom, not believing he had actually done it; the game had barely lasted five minutes! As Gryffindors came running onto the pitch, congratulating Harry and the team, Clarke pointed at Snape, standing nearby, looking white -faced and tight-lipped. 

"Guess he didn't even have time to try anything" Clarke chuckled as the rest of the group broke off in giggles at Snape's disappointed face. 

Then, Clarke felt eyes on her, and quickly turned around to spot the person watching her. Up in Slytherin stands, Lexa was standing, looking at her and quickly diverting her eyes once Clarke had spotted her. 

Clarke frowned; with all the trouble around Snape, the philosopher's stone and Harry's game, Clarke had almost forgotten about the girl. She watched as Lexa was getting down of her stands, heading towards the castle and out of Clarke's sight. 

The blonde sighed, not really knowing what to do about the brunette. But she didn't have time to think about it further, as the rest of the group were headed back to the castle too to celebrate Gryffindor's victory. Harry went his separate way, having to put his broomstick back into the broomshed. 

* * *

In the great hall, Hermione and the rest of the group were getting worried about Harry not being back yet.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let him go alone…" Clarke murmured. 

Suddenly, he appeared, all of them sighing in relief. 

"Where have you _been_?" Hermione squeaked. 

"We won! You won!" Ron shouted, thumping Harry on the back, "And I gave Malfoy a black eye!"

"I twisted his arm, too" Raven added, a winked grin on her face, proud of herself. 

"Even Neville joined the fight" Octavia chuckled, "Trying to take out Grabbe and Goyle single-handed. He's out cold at the nursery, though."

"Well done catching the snitch, Harry" Clarke smiled at him as he was smiling back at the blonde. 

"Everyone's waiting for you in the common room to celebrate" Ron said, "I think Georges and Fred stole stuff for the kitchen."

"Never mind that now" Harry said, a serious expression on his face. He told them about what had delayed him on his way to the broomshed ; Snape, in the forbidden forest, talking to a very anxious professor Quirrell. He explained how Snape was looking like he was trying to gain information about getting past Fluffy the three-headed dog and the philosopher's stone. 

"We were right" He informed them, "It _is_ about the philosopher's stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get past it. I think there are also other things guarding the stone, apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments". 

"So you mean the stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione asked, not very reassured by this prospective. 

"We're screwed" Raven groaned. 

"Yeah; completely screwed" Ron agreed. 

* * *

But against their worst expectations, Quirrell didn't look like he had cracked yet. Every time one of them would pass the third-floor corridor, they would press their ears against the door, checking that Fluffy was still inside, guarding the stone. Snape was still his awful self, which probably meant that he hadn't put his hands on the stone yet; which offered the group a bit of comfort. 

But the group had other preoccupations; Hermione had started drawing up revisions timetables, and although the rest of the group wouldn't have minded, she kept nagging them to do the same, even though exams were still ages away. 

"They will be upon us quite soon enough" Hermione had retorqued to Ron once, "And I don't want to be caught up last minute. Furthermore, ten weeks are like a _second_ to Nicolas Flamel."

They all groaned, but in the end, they all had to agree with Hermione; teachers seemed to be in the same state of mind too, as they were piling more and more homework each week. 

Quickly getting a bite to eat before heading to the library, an owl came flying into the room, dropping a package in front of Clarke. 

"What's this?" Octavia frowned. 

"I don't know" Clarke truthfully answered, really having no ideas, "I didn't expect anything."

She opened the package, recognizing Beauxbatons' coat of arms on the papers inside it. She quickly read the letter attached to it, groaning. 

"What does it say?" Ron asked, curious. 

"It's from Beauxbatons" Clarke sighed. "Homework."

"The hell?" Raven said, having just reached their table as she had seen from her own table that Clarke had gotten a package, "Homework??"

"Yeah" Clarke sighed again, "For Easter classes, they say."

" _Easter_ classes?" Hermione noted, "So they expect you to come back?"

"They don't really say, but it would seem like it" Clarke said, "But I don't even _know_ I'll manage all of Hogwarts' homework, but classes and homework from Beauxbatons on top of it?" Clarke scoffed, "I'll never make it to second year."

"Don't be so pessimistic" Hermione gently said, "Look, we've already studied this, and that" Hermione pointed to different subjects Clarke had to work on, "It'll be easy for you to do those papers. And look, this one is about charms' class, you're good at charms."

"Thank you Hermione" Clarke offered a tired smile, "But I guess I will need to sleep in the library until terms."

"Yep" Raven confirmed, not helping at all, "You're screwed."

"Thanks for the support, Raven" Clarke glared at her friend, trying to look mad -even though she wasn't. 

"You still have time, right?" Octavia then said, "Easter holidays are not for two more weeks."

Clarke hummed, not really convinced in her abilities to do it all. Then, she threw a glance at Slytherin table, noting that Lexa seemed to have received the same package as she did. 

"Look, there's another letter" Raven told Clarke, getting the letter from under the pile of papers. "Who's it from?"

Clarke read the name written behind the enveloppe, smiling. 

"It's from my friend, Harper" Clarke explained to the others, opening up the letter. "I think you would like her, actually" She quickly read the hand-written letter. "She's asking me for news, and wants to know if I'll be back in a couple of weeks."

"Maybe you'll have to talk with Lexa" Octavia murmured at loud, having noticed Lexa had received a package, too. "Maybe she'll tell you."

Clarke hummed, putting everything back into her bag. 

"Nothing from your mother?" Raven then wondered after Clarke seemed to have open every letter and package she had received. 

"Nope" Clarke shrugged. "It's ok, though."

Quickly finishing up their meals, they headed to the library, where they now seemed to be spending all their free times, enduring Hermione's work schedule. 

"I'll never remember this" Ron groaned one day, giving up on his paper and longingly looking out of the library window; they were finally having a fine day, with blue sky and warm weather, making them feel like spring days would be upon them soon. "Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Ron then spotted the man, who quickly hid something behind his back. 

Clarke thought that he looked quite out of place in the library, when they were so used of seeing him in the outsides. She discreetly took a peek at what he was keeping behind his back; a book, only making out one half of the title. 

"Just looking" Hagrid grumbled as he was doing when he was -badly- trying to hide something. "And what are you looking at?" He then asked, "You're not still looking for Flamel?"

"Oh non" Raven shrugged him off, "We found out who he was ages ago. Along with the philoso…"

"Shush!" Hagrid quickly cut her off, "Don't go shouting around about it!"

"We have a few questions actually" Harry said, "About what's guarding the stone apart from Fluffy…"

"Shush, I said!" Hagrid cut him again, looking around to see if someone had overhead the boy, "Listen. Come and see me later. I don't promise I'll tell you anything, but don't go talking around about that. They'll think I've told you."

"We'll see you later" Raven said with a grin, proud of them to gain answers from Hagrid once again, as the man was quickly walking off. Hagrid was quite the open book, really. 

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione then asked, remembering about Hagrid's weird behavior. 

"A book" Clarke answered, "Something called _A Dragon's keeper guide"_. 

"Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons" Ron deduced, as Hermione was raising a brow at him for the obvious deduction. 

"He has always wanted a dragon" Harry said, "He told me so the first time I ever met him."

"But it's against our laws" Octavia frowned, "Isn't it?"

"Yeah" Ron nodded, "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709". 

"It's hard to stop muggles from noticing us if we keep dragons in our backyards, right?" Raven chuckled. 

"Exactly" Ron agreed, "Besides, it's too dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there is no _wild_ dragons in Britain, right?" Clarke asked. She couldn't picture it, dragons roaming free in the country. Surely they were someplace where no one lived? 

"Of course there are" Ron shrugged. "The ministry of Magic keeps putting spells on muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"Then what on Earth is Hagrid up to?" Hermione wondered at loud, gaining shrugs for her friends. 

* * *

Later that day, all the group headed towards Hagrid's hut, in need of answers. But then, Clarke spotted Lexa, sitting on a bench near by and chatting with her cousin. 

"Go ahead, I'll meet you there" Clarke told her friend, wanting to talk to Lexa first. 

On the bench, Lexa was talking with Anya. 

"So, Beauxbatons?" Anya asked her cousin. 

"As I remembered" Lexa answered, as her cousin was sighing. 

"You know that this isn't what I asked" Anya rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed. 

"I know" Lexa nodded, "But I don't know what else to tell you."

"What about Clarke?"

"She was fine." Lexa only said. "She's a quick learner."

"We knew that already" Anya rolled her eyes again. "Did she meet the Vinys?"

"Yes, she did" The younger brunette nodded, "All three of them."

"They couldn't keep themselves from approaching her, I bet" Anya chuckled. "What did Clarke had to say about it?"

"Nothing" Lexa truthfully said, "She has questions, but she doesn't suspect anything. At least, I think."

"Alright" Anya said. "You're going back for Easter holidays?"

"I guess" Lexa shrugged. "We received homework to do. And Titus will probably want me to come back anyways."

"Clarke's coming too?" 

"I don't know" Lexa answered her cousin. "I haven't talked to her since we've been back". 

Anya hummed, not wanting to appear too pushy with her cousin. 

"Why do _you_ never go back to Beauxbatons?" Lexa then asked. 

"Because I am not _the chosen one_ " Anya joked, trying to imitate Titus. 

"There're days I wish I wasn't" Lexa murmured. 

"I know" Anya sympathetically smiled to her cousin. "But I belong to Hogwarts" Anya added, "As much as you belong by her side."

"Don't be too sure about that" Lexa hummed. She then gestured for Anya to go away as she spotted Clarke talking to her friends, and then leave them to walk towards her, Aska by her side. 

"Hello Clarke" Anya said, getting up to head back into the castle. 

"Anya" Clarke nodded at her as a greeting. 

Once Anya was gone, Clarke sat next to Lexa, waiting a few seconds to talk. 

"Are we going back to Beauxbatons for Easter?" Clarke finally asked the brunette, "I received homework."

"We are, if you want to" Lexa answered. 

Clarke hummed, lightly petting Aska's head. "Why me?" Clarke questioned her again. 

"I've already told you before" Lexa only said, "Dumbledore asked me."

Clarke frowned, because it didn't make any sense, and she was pretty sure Lexa was, once again, half-lying to her. 

"You better go back to your friends" Lexa then told her, getting up. "Come find me if you need help with potions homework or whatever."

And then she walked away, leaving Clarke, frowning on the bench. Lexa was definitely too hard to understand. Clarke sighed, and walked off towards Hagrid's hut to meet with the others. 

* * *

Back into Hagrid's hut, the others had been surprised to see all the curtains closed in daylight. It was at least a hundred degrees inside with the fire running, even if the weather was warm outside. Hagrid had made them tea and sandwiches. 

"We were wondering if you could tell us about what's guarding the philosopher's stone, apart from Fluffy" Harry asked the gamekeeper. 

"I don't know myself" Hagrid frowned at them, "And you know too much already."

"Come Hagrid" Hermione said in a warm voice, trying to flatter him, "You know everything that goes around here. We were only wondering who had _done_ the guarding, really". 

"Yeah" Raven nodded, going along with Hermione's flattery vibe, "Apart from you, who Dumbledore trusts with this?"

Very flattered, Hagrid couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Well, some teachers did enchantments… professor McGonagall of course, professor Sprout, professor Flitwick… Professor Quirrell, Dumbledore too, of course…" He was counting them on his fingers, "Oh, and Snape too."

" _Snape_?" Octavia asked. 

"Yes, Snape" Hagrid confirmed, then suspiciously eyed them. "You're not still on that, right? Snape _protects_ the stone, he's not about to steal it."

But all of the students were thinking the same thing; if Snape was protecting the stone too, then he knew about all the others teachers' spells - expect Quirrell's, it seemed. 

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, right Hagrid?" Hermione anxiously asked. "And you wouldn't tell anyone?"

"Of course I wouldn't" Hagrid seemed hurt by such a thought, "Only me and Dumbledore knows." He proudly told them. 

"Well that's something at least" Raven sighed. 

Then, Clarke was knocking on the door and entering the room, frowning at the heat inside. 

"Why is it a thousand degrees in here?" Clarke asked them, "Couldn't you open a window or something…" She trailed off as she spotted something in the fire. "What is _that_ ?" She asked, pointing to the fireplace. 

They all turned to look at it, and they immediately knew what it was. Underneath the kettle, was resting a huge black egg. 

"Hum, that's… herr…" Hagrid stuttered as Ron was getting up to take a closer look at it. 

"Where did you even get it?" Ron exclaimed, "It most have cost you a fortune!"

"Won it off a stranger" Hagrid answered, "Who was kind of happy to get rid of it, now that I think about it."

"What are you going to do with a _dragon_?" Clarke asked, a bit worried about what was going to be his answer. 

"I've read a couple things" He shrugged, showing them the book he has taken from the library. "It's a Norwegian Ridgeback." He told them, looking proud of himself once again. 

Which didn't amuse Hermione at all. "You live in a _wooden_ house!"

But Hagrid wasn't listening. 

* * *

"Great" Raven ironically said as they were studying in the library once again, "Now we have one more problem on our hands."

"I wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life" Ron sighed. 

They were struggling through the extra homework every evening now, and Hermione had now started making them all revision tables, which was quite turning them mad. Clarke was even more struggling than them, having to study for Beauxbatons' classes too; thankfully, Hermione was adamant to learn more and more, too, so she had been helping Clarke whenever she could, staying up very late in the evening to get through all the extra homework from Beauxbatons. 

"I'll fail this, I swear" Clarke sighed one night, so very tired she couldn't see read her book's words straight. 

"Come on Clarke" Hermione encouraged her, "You can do this. Look, you've already been through three quarters of what you had to do, and you have another week left before Easter holidays."

Clarke sighed again, although she could actually see the progress she was making. "Thanks for sticking with me" She thanked Hermione, suddenly feeling very grateful for her friend.

"No problem" The other girl shrugged. 

At her feet, Aska suddenly got up, raising both Clarke and Hermione's attentions. "What's up Aska?" Clarke asked him, frowning as he seemed to have sensed something. 

Curiously looking at her dog as he was fixing her with his yellow eyes, she got up, intrigued as he seemed to want her to follow him. 

"Clarke, what are you doing?" Hermione frowned, also watching as Aska was acting weird. 

"I don't know" Clarke murmured, still looking at her dog, "He wants me to follow him."

"What?" Hermione frowned too, "How do you know that?"

"I have this feeling" Clarke answered. "Go to bed, I'll be back soon". 

"Clarke" Hermione tried to protest, "If a teacher catches you in the corridor at night…"

But Clarke wasn't listening, as she already was out of Gryffindor's tower, following Aska's lead. 

"Where are we going boy?" Clarke whispered to her dog, lightly grabbing him by the collar so they would stay close to each other in the dark. 

Clarke was looking around, always checking her surroundings to be sure no one could see her wander at night, but not a soul could be heard or seen at this late hour. Then, Clarke recognized the path they were taking; they were going to the library. 

"Aska, what has gotten into you…?" Clarke murmured to her four-legged companion, who of course, didn't give her any answers. 

Slowly and quietly, Clarke pushed the library's door open, noticing that a faint light was glowing into the big room. Aska lead them further into the room, and Clarke frowned when she suddenly heard a voice mumbling. 

"Aska!" She whispered, trying to stop her dog, "We are going to get caught…!" But Aska wasn't listening as he was making them go further and further towards the voice. 

"Damn me it Aska" Clarke whispered again, "Why is _now_ that you choose to disobey..?"

But then Clarke stopped in her tracks, as they had arrived to the cause of the noise. Lexa. Frowning, Clarke quickly went over to her, as the brunette seemed to have fallen asleep, head first into her books, and was apparently having a nightmare right now as she was frowning and mumbling in her sleep state. 

Throwing a questioning look at her dog, Clarke got closer to Lexa, wondering for a second if she should wake her up or not. But then again, Aska hadn't bring her here just so they could watch Lexa sleep, had he? 

As gently as she could, Clarke put both hands on Lexa's shoulders, very lightly shaking her so she would wake up. 

"Lexa?" Clarke murmured so she wouldn't scare her, "It's Clarke. Come on, wake up."

But the girl wouldn't open her eyes, too deep into sleep to notice Clarke's presence. 

"Lexa, wake up" Clarke shook her a bit more stronger, getting worried as the brunette seemed to get more anxious in her sleep-state by the minute. 

"LEXA!" Clarke finally shouted, managed to wake up the girl as Lexa was jumping off her seat, immediately looking around for threats. 

"Hey, calm down" Clarke raised her palms up, "It's me."

"Clarke" Lexa frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Clarke asked back, "Aska led me to you. You were having nightmares. Why are you up so late in the library?"

"Studying, obviously" Lexa dryly answered, starting to pack her things into her bags and piling the books she had taken from the shelves. 

"Lexa, please" Clarke sighed, "Don't be _mad_ at me."

"I am not mad at you Clarke" Lexa said, her voice still empty from any emotions, "But it is late and we should not be out of our beds at this hour."

Quickly putting the books back to the shelves they belonged to, Lexa grabbed her backpack and headed for the door, exiting the library with Clarke following closely behind. In silence, they walked through the corridors, listening for any noise that could betray their presence here or warm them about a teacher doing rounds. 

They reached the dungeons first, where Clarke knew was the concealed entrance to Slytherin' dungeon, extending partway into the lake surrounding Hogwarts, making the windows open on water and sometimes, sea creatures. It was probably the best secure house' tower in the school, as rumors said that no one except Slytherins members had made it in. The blonde could not tell that about Gryffindor's tower, as Raven seemed to have found a way in, and often using it. Clarke had never seen the inside of Slytherin's common room though, and could only rely on Bellamy's description. 

"You probably should get back to your dorm" Lexa said, stopping at the top of a staircase, reaching somewhere further down the dungeons. "You can't know where Slytherin's tower's entrance is."

"Yeah" Clarke scoffed, upset about Lexa's behavior once again. "Don't worry, I'll leave you alone." Seriously, what was wrong with her? Clarke had come after her, wandering at nights in the corridors, which was absolutely forbidden by the way, looking for Lexa and shaking her out of her nightmares, worrying about the brunette on top of it, and all she was doing in return was being a pain in the ass yet again? Truly, Clarke was fed with it. 

Fuming, Clarke walked away, heading for the Gryffindor's tower, so she didn't heard the quiet whispered words. 

"Goodnight Clarke" Lexa whispered.

* * *

The next week went by in a blur; trying to focus on their homework, the group forgot a bit about Nicolas Flamel, Snape and the philosopher's stone again. 

Then, one breakfast morning, Hedwig came flying into the great hall, giving Harry a note from Hagrid with only two words on it : _it's hatching._

Raven and Ron's eyes immediately lightened up with the news, wanting to skip their herbology class to run to Hagrid's hut and witness the hatch. Hermione, of course, didn't agree. 

"Oh come on Hermione" Ron groaned, having set his mind on seeing the baby dragon. 

"Ron's right!" Raven agreed, raising her palms up under Clarke's glare, "I'm sorry, but how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

"We'll get in trouble again" Hermione frowned, "And we've got lessons."

"And that's nothing compared to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's…"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered, effectively cutting the blonde off. 

A few feet away, Malefoy had stopped dead to listen. 

"Crap" Clarke murmured, "How much do you think he's heard?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to punch this look on his face" Raven retorqued. 

"Look" Octavia then spotted Anya stopping Malefoy as the boy was heading towards the exit, talking to him. Quickly enough, Bellamy rejoined them, gesturing for Malefoy to go away as he started animatedly talking with Anya. 

"Do you think Anya now knows, too?" Raven frowned, as her friends were shrugging their shoulders, a bit afraid of the consequences. 

"Oh, Bellamy's coming towards us" Hermione told them, "I don't think he's too happy."

Fuming, Bellamy quickly sat down at their tables, looking at them with suspicious eyes. 

"What did you do again, all of you?" He asked. "Malefoy's all gushing about you raising a dragon?"

The friends looked at each other, relieved that Malefoy had somehow misunderstood their conversation. 

"What the fuck, O?" Bellamy asked again, looking at his sister. "Clarke, an explanation?"

Internally taking a deep breath and readying herself to lie as best as she could, Clarke then rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Bellamy. Us, raising a dragon? Where would we even _find_ a dragon in the first place?"

"Draco seemed pretty sure of what he heard" Bellamy told them, not convinced. 

"Bell, Malefoy hates Harry" Octavia jumped in, "And all other students that aren't Slytherin or pure-bloods, for that matter."

"Yeah, he would do or say anything to get us expelled anyways" Raven added. 

Bellamy looked at them again, narrowing his eyes, trying to decide if they were telling the truth. But then again, it was true the Malefoy boy didn't like anyone, except from maybe Crabbe and Goyle, and was a horrible kid, even with Slytherins students. And Clarke had made a good point; where would they have found a dragon anyways?

"Alright" Bellamy then sighed, admitting that it was kind of a crazy idea and probably one more trick from Draco. "But please, keep out of trouble, all of you."

He then left them, going back to his breakfast with the rest of his friends. 

"Phew" Ron breathed, "We got close."

They all nodded, relieved that they had taken themselves out of this situation, but still worried about what Malefoy could do or say to someone. 

"It's time to go to class" Hermione told them while throwing them a _don't protest_ look, and sighing, they all went to class, after having made Hermione promise they would go see Hagrid on morning break. 

Once the bell had rang, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Clarke, Octavia and Raven had all hurried to Hagrid's hut, who had greeted them looking flushed and excited. 

"Come on in, it's nearly out" He ushered them inside. 

The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks in it, as something seemed to be moving inside with clicking noises coming from it. 

Impatiently waiting, all their eyes set on the cracked egg, they hall jumped when all at once the baby dragon flopped on to the table, the egg splitting open. Not really pretty, it had wings way bigger than his skinny body, a long snout with wide nostrils and orange eyes. 

"Oh!" Clarke exclaimed as it sneezed, sending a couple of sparks in the air. 

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured, reaching out to stroke the dragon's head… As the dragon snapped at him, trying to bite him. "He knows his mummy!"

Although they were still worried about what they would do about the baby dragon, they all had to admit it was kind of beautiful to see one so little. Clarke even surprised herself wishing Aska was a dragon, so she could fly on his back whenever she wanted. On the floor, Aska whined, probably knowing Clarke's thoughts, and the blonde chuckled, putting her dog on her knees so Aska could snif the little creature. 

"Hagrid" Hermione then asked, "How fast do Norwegian Ridgeback grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face, quickly up and running to the window. Raven, who was sitting in front of it, seemed to have also seen what Hagrid as seen, as she was as pale as him. 

"Malefoy. Malefoy saw the dragon" Raven murmured. 

This time, they were really screwed. 


	15. A hole in the House Points

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Norbert has to go away, and the group loses a lot of houses points. The blonde almost doesn't make it to Beauxbatons for Easter holidays.

** Chapter 15 : A Hole in the House Points**

The next week, the gang spent all their free times between studying and being with Hagrid, trying to reason him. 

"Hagrid, just let him go" Raven urged him, "Dragons are not made to live inside houses. He'll be sad."

Clarke didn't know how Raven could be so sure about that, but then again the girl seemed to have a predisposition for magical creatures. 

"I can't" Hagrid said, "He's too little. He'll die."

They looked at the dragon, who had tripled in size in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils, and they were getting worried about everything being put on fire. 

"I've decided to call him Norbert" Hagrid told them, lost in his world. 

"He's gone mad" Raven whispered to Clarke, who glared at her but who was a bit agreeing with her. 

"Malefoy could go to Dumbledore at _any_ moment" Octavia reminded the gamekeeper, "Norbert has to go as far from here as possible."

"I know he should go, but I..." Hagrid trailed off. 

All of them could see he was already strongly attached to the creature; but it was too great of a risk. 

Then, Clarke had an idea. "Charlie" She turned herself towards Ron. 

"Now _you_ are losing it" Raven said, "This is Ron."

"No, I mean, your brother Charlie in Romania" Clarke explained, talking to Ron, "He could take care of Norbert, and then put him back in the wild, right?"

"That's a good idea!" Hermione agreed, relieved they would have one less problem to solve, "How about it, Hagrid?"

By the end of the day, Hagrid had agreed to send an owl to Charlie, asking him. 

* * *

Only a week until Easter holidays were upon them, and Clarke was really getting stressed about finishing up all her homework in time. 

One evening, as she was sitting with Hermione, Octavia and Harry in Gryffindor's common room, she closed her books, sighing. 

"I am going to need to go see Lexa about this" Clarke groaned, yawning at the same time. "This is advanced classes for Hogwarts, and I can't understand it."

"Maybe it isn't such a bad thing" Hermione offered her a sympathetic smile, "I mean, you did mention she told you to come to her if you had troubles. I would help you, but..." The girl gestured to the ton of books she had set her mind on reading. 

"Yeah, I know" Clarke sighed again, running a hand through her hair, "But I just… I must seem so stupid, every time I need someone's help to figure my classes out."

"Stop it, Clarke" Octavia warned her, closing her books too, done with studying for the night. "You know that's not true. Besides, Dumbledore would never have agreed to let you go take Beauxbatons' courses if he thought you were too stupid to follow them."

Clarke nodded at her friend, thanking her for her kind words and her infallible support. 

"Alright, I'm going to see if Lexa's in the library" Clarke said, getting up. But as she was ready to leave the room, Ron appeared in the middle of the room, getting out of under the invisibility cloak Harry had received as a Christmas gift, coming back from Hagrid's hut where he had been helping the man feed Norbert. 

"It bit me!" Ron said, showing them his bloodied hand as he began to ramble about the dragon being a beast of evil. 

They all had to agree that his wound didn't look pretty, but they hadn't time to think further about it as a light tap on the window could be heard. 

"That's Hedwig!" Harry said, hurrying to let her in, "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

He read them the letter Hedwig had brought in, indeed from Ron's brother, telling them he agreed with taking Norbert and telling them to bring him up to the highest tower of the castle next Saturday at midnight, so some of his friends could retrieve him without getting seen. 

"I think the cloak is big enough to hide two of us, and Norbert. That shouldn't be too difficult." Harry said.

They all agreed without questions. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malefoy.

* * *

Clarke got out of the Gryffindor's tower, still heading towards the library in search of Lexa, Aska lightly walking by her side.

"What do you think, boy?" Clarke wondered at loud, "Where do you think she is? Library? Already in bed?"

But Aska didn't answer, of course, only keeping close to Clarke and going wherever she went.

A few minutes later - after three sudden staircases changes - Clarke found herself into the library, walking around to see if she could spot Lexa somewhere. 

She noticed how Bellamy was sitting at one of the tables with two other boys, and he gestured for her to come to him when he spotted her. 

"You're up late" Bellamy noted. 

"You too" Clarke talked back, an amused smile on her lips. 

"Yeah, I mean, I did not study as much as I should have, so…" He trailed off. 

"He means he's screwed" One of Bellamy's friends say, laughing as the Blake boy was pushing his shoulder. 

"What are you doing here so late anyways?" Bellamy asked her once he was done bittering with his friends. 

"Looking for Lexa" Clarke answered, praying that he wouldn't ask too much questions. She didn't know if Octavia had told him about her going to Beauxbatons, but she wanted to keep it low. 

"Oh" Bellamy hummed, "I think I saw her earlier, with Anya. Over there" Bellamy showed her, pointing at another area of the library. "Get back to your dorm before curfew, alright?"

"Yes, _Dad_ " Clarke rolled her eyes, smiling at him, as she headed towards the section he had told her. 

Bellamy had been right; Lexa was there, sitting at a table, her head down in books. Which seemed to be a habit for everyone, those past few weeks in Hogwarts. 

Clarke quietly pulled herself a chair, slopping down on it and raising Lexa's attention. 

"Clarke" She realized the blonde was there, "What do you want?"

Clarke tried to not let the phrasing get into her head and make her feel like she was bothering Lexa; it had been Lexa's words in the first, to come to her if she needed help with classes, right? 

"I need your help" Clarke confessed, her lips burning as the words were getting out. 

"With what?" Lexa frowned, closing her book and focusing on the blonde in front of her. 

"With this" Clarke showed her one of the paper they had to write for Beauxbatons. 

"I see" Lexa nodded, running her eyes over what Clarke had already written. "No, you see, it isn't quite right" Lexa started, turning the paper over so she could show Clarke, "It's just, do that, but also…"

And Lexa spent an hour teaching and correcting Clarke about the _expelliarmus_ spell. 

"Why don't they teach this in Hogwarts yet?" Clarke asked the brunette, confused on why the courses could be different if they were learning spells from easy to difficult, following the years. 

"In Hogwarts, first years' charms are all about making basic movements" Lexa explained. "In second year, you learn how to _build up_ magic into the spell, giving it more power, more strength."

Clarke nodded to the girl, telling her that she was following her explanations and urging her to keep going. 

"Students in Beauxbatons learn about magic sooner than here" Lexa then said. "In first year, they already know how to build strength into their spells, as they already had a few shots at casting them."

"So, in the end, they're better?" Clarke frowned, not feeling like this was fair. 

"Not necessarily" Lexa shrugged. "It's only two different methods, and I'm only talking about charms class. Every school has their specialties, but in the end, every graduating student is supposed to have the same level."

Clarke hummed. "What's Beauxbatons' specialties?" 

"Alchemy" Lexa told her. 

"That makes sense" The blonde nodded. "Because of Flamel."

"Yes" Lexa confirmed. "So, now this paper..."

And they studied one hour more, Lexa helping Clarke on another paper. Surprisingly, it was _Clarke_ that then explained their astronomy paper they had to turn in for their Hogwarts class; this course was actually quite simple to Clarke, as it was not very different from muggle's astronomy. Her and her dad had spent hours looking at the night sky, when she was little. In the end of their study session, it was midnight by the time Clarke was back in Gryffindor's tower, feeling way less stressed about her classes, both Hogwarts' and Beauxbatons'. 

One more paper and she would be done and ready for Easter Holidays. 

* * *

Next morning woke them with muffled screams, coming from the boys dormitories. Aska having woken her up, Clarke quickly got out of bed, shaking Octavia and Hermione out of their sleeping state. 

"Why would you wake me up?" Octavia groaned, "You've got a death wish or what?"

"Get up" Clarke threw clothes at her, "Something's happening."

Three minutes later, they were coming down the stairs, Ron and Harry already up, the redhead looking like he was in pain. 

"Ron?" Hermione frowned, "What's happeni…" She stopped talking, having spotted the problem. 

Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual side, looking red and very painful. The group didn't know if they should send him to go see Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse, because how would they explain the injury? Plus, they couldn't take the risk of her recognizing a dragon's bite. 

They went to class, but by the afternoon, Ron's bite had turned a nasty shade of green, as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous, and he didn't have any other choice than to go see to the infirmary. 

And the end of the day, after classes were over, the group rushed to the hospital wing, finding Ron in a terrible state. 

"Is it that bad?" Octavia asked, frowning at the face Ron was making. 

"It's not just my hand" Ron explained, "Malfoy was here, pretexting he wanted to borrow a book, but he only just wanted to make fun of me and threaten to tell Madam Pomfrey what really hit me. I've told her it was a dog's bite" Ron told them, "But I don't think she believes me. And Malfoy _knows_ , so it's a problem."

"One problem at a time, alright?" Clarke gently said. 

"Yeah, it'll all be over by midnight" Hermione tried to calm him down. But Ron didn't look very soothed by that. 

It was midnight soon enough, and Clarke was helping Harry and Hermione get under the invisibility cloak so they could go to Hagrid's hut to fetch Norbert and bring him to the highest tower, like Charlie had said. 

"Be careful, alright?" Octavia remembered them, although she seemed like she would rather much going under the cloak than Hermione, who looked a bit paler than usual. 

"We'll try to watch Draco from here" Clarke told them, "Just in case he tries something."

The duo under the cloak nodded, and left Gryffindor's common room, heading for Hagrid's hut. 

* * *

An hour later, Clarke and Octavia were half-asleep on the common room's couches when someone entered the room by falling on the round, making them jump. Raven was laying on the ground, under a moving painting of some guy, who now actually looked like a door. 

"Raven?" Octavia exclaimed, "What the fuck?"

"Is _this_ how you've been entering our tower, all this time?" Clarke asked, pointing to the secret door. 

"Yep" Raven said, "The Weasleys told me."

"But..." Octavia didn't have time to finish her sentence, as Raven cut her off, looking worried. 

"Later, we don't have time, we must hurry" Raven told them, "It's Malfoy. I was in Slytherin's dungeons and…"

"Wait, what?" Clarke frowned, "Slytherin's dungeons?"

" _Later_ , Clarke" Raven reminded her, "Malfoy found Charlie's letter. It was in the book he took from Ron the afternoon. He knows we're getting rid of Norbert."

"Crap" Clarke let the word escape, "What do we do?"

"That's not all" Raven somberly said, "Lexa knows, too. She surprised me in Slytherin's dungeons. She's waiting for us outside of the tower."

"Great" Octavia groaned. "How the hell are we going to get out of this, now?"

Quickly, they took their cloaks and headed out of the tower, when Lexa was already waiting for them. Immediately, Lexa got close to Clarke, frowning. 

"What did you get yourself into, this time?" Lexa asked the blonde, although it looked more like worry than anger. 

"That's not us" Clarke denied. "Hagrid's got a dragon. We're getting rid of it tonight, Ron's brother is studying dragons in Romania, friends of him are coming to retrieve it."

"We better hurry then" Lexa hummed, to the great surprise Clarke who kind of expected Lexa to shout at them, "Malfoy left a long time ago. Who knows what he is up to."

Nodding, they all slowly walked into the corridor, being careful of not making any noise. Of course, it was without counting Neville, who had probably forgotten the password of Gryffindor's tower once again, and who ran into them at a corner. 

"Clarke! Octavia!" He then said, surprising them, "I was looking for you! I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch Harry, he said he has a dragon!"

"Damn it" Raven grumbled, "The boy is a nightmare really."

"Come on" Clarke urged them forwards, "They must be heading towards the astronomy tower by now". 

They had barely made another step that Mister Filch was upon them, a vicious smile on his lips. 

* * *

Things were not at all happening like they had planned. Filch had taken them to McGonagall's office, where they were waiting for the sentence to fall down on their heads. Clarke was turning her mind upside down, trying to find alibies or cover-up stories that could get them out of this situation. But she was smart, and she new that this time, nothing could save them. 

When they thought that it couldn't get any worse, Filch was back, Harry and Hermione trailing behind him. Both of them paled when they spotted their friends, already in the room. 

Professor McGonagall was fuming; she looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over them. 

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr Filch says you were in the corridors" She looked at Clarke and her friends, "And the two of you up the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain_ yourselves." She prompted them. 

It was the first time Hermione had ever failed at answering a question; the rest of them wasn't doing too good either, as they were all focused on fixing their shoes. 

"I think I have a good idea of what's been going on" the woman said. "It's doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble."

At her words, Clarke threw an interrogation look at Harry and Hermione; was it possible that Draco had been caught walking into the corridors, too? 

"I've already caught him" McGonagall confirmed Clarke's thoughts. "I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

They caught Neville's eyes, who looked stunned and hurt; of course it wasn't the truth, but that, he couldn't know. 

"I'm disgusted" The professor said. "Eight students out of their beds in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger" She looked at Hermione who seemed ready to cry at any minute, "I thought you had more sense. Like you, Miss Woods, I would have expected your tutor to teach you how to follow rules. As for you, Potter and Griffin, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than… _This_ " She told them, looking hurt herself. 

"All of you will receive detention -yes, you too, Mr Longbottom - and fifty points will be taken out of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

" _Fifty_?" Harry gasped. They would lose the lead, the lead he had won them in the last quidditch match. Lexa wasn't looking to pleased, either. 

"Fifty points… _each_ " The woman added, breathing heavily through her long pointed nose. 

"Professor, please…" Harry tried to changer her mind. But of course, nothing could. 

"Don't, Potter" professor McGonagall said. "Now, all of you get back to bed. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Clarke didn't even want to think about how many points they had made their house lose. That was putting Gryffindor at the last place; in one night, they had ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. How could they ever make up for this? 

Feeling nauseous, they all got back to their dorms, neither of them saying a single word. Dreading dawn, they all had trouble falling asleep; what would everyone say, when they would discover what they had done? 

* * *

When morning came, Gryffindors first thought of a mistake, looking at the recorded house points; how could they have lost two hundreds and fifty points in one night? Then, rumors began to spread; Harry Potter, their hero of two quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and another couple of stupid first years. 

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs also turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Although Clarke and Octavia weren't very popular, no one would talk to them either, and the group was now being pointed to in corridors and no one had touble _not_ lowering their voices as they insulted them. Slytherins were, on the other hand, way too happy to clasp every time one of the group would walk past them, Slytherin cheering them for giving them back the chance at winning the House Cup. 

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks" Ron tried to offer them, whose hand was now healed, "Fred and Georges have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"They've never lost almost three hundreds points in one go, did they?" Harry said, miserably. 

"Well… No" Ron was forced to admit. 

The group, although it seemed a bit late for that, all vowed to never again meddle in things that weren't their business, now done with snooping and spying and be out of their beds by night. 

Hermione also was suffering; she had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence. Inside of Ravenclaw, Raven wasn't having an easy time either; her fellow housemates, once liking her for her genius' mind, were now avoiding her, as Ravenclaws had almost _never_ lost house points because of students' behavior. She was now spending much more time with Clarke and the rest of their Gryffindor group as before. 

Clarke hadn't be able to talk to Lexa since that night; she didn't know how the brunette was feeling, always sitting and studying alone - although it didn't really change from before - but Clarke were spending her days wondering if Lexa was being insulted by her Slytherins' comrades. 

They were almost glad that the exams weren't far away; all the revision they had to do was keeping their minds off their misery. They all kept to themselves, working late in the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, Clarke helping them with what she had learnt in Beauxbatons, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblins rebellions… 

Speaking of Beauxbatons, Clarke had almost forgotten about it, already knowing that she had been supposed to leave two days ago already, figuring out they had been punished and therefore couldn't go, that she was surprised when professor McGonagall came to fetch her one afternoon into the library, telling her they were going to meet with Dumbledore. First a bit afraid Dumbledore was going to expel her, her friends had reassured her, telling her if she _was_ to be expel, then all of them would be, too; but although it reassured Clarke, it almost made Hermione cry. 

* * *

Following the professor all the way to Dumbledore's office, Clarke's heart was speeding up. What could all of this be about? 

She was then surprised to see that Lexa was here too, apparently waiting for them to arrive, as Dumbledore was sat behind his desk, a light smile on his face. 

"Hello, Clarke" He said, "How are you seen last time we've seen each other?"

"I'm fine. Thank you" Clarke quickly answered, not really understanding why he would act so kind when they had screwed up big time. 

"You two must be wondering why it is that you are here" Dumbledore then got up. "Beauxbatons is expecting you to go back for classes, in two days."

Clarke had figured it was about Beauxbatons; why else would Lexa be there, too? 

"Professor McGonagall here" Dumbledore then said, "And Professor Snape, who couldn't join us, are against it. They don't find that your recent… Behaviors" He told them, although he didn't seem mad but almost _amused,_ "Is giving you the right to go abroad."

Clarke was holding her breath, waiting for the axe to fall down on their necks. But it didn't come, as Dumbledore sat once again, smiling at them again. 

"But I think you've been punished enough" He told them, "And I figure that the other students are probably not going easy on you either. So" He finally said, "That is why I am allowing you two to go. On the other side, I expect you to be model students over there. Is that understood?"

Lexa and Clarke quickly nodded, relieved that they would still be able to go. 

"You are leaving in an hour" He told them. "Go get ready, then". 

Thanking him, Clarke and Lexa left the room in a hurry, not wanting him to take back his words. 

"So, we're going, after all" Clarke said to Lexa, relieved. 

But Lexa didn't look relieved at all; if nothing else, she looked _mad_. 

"And that not thanks to you" Lexa bit back at Clarke, "Your actions almost cost me my scholarship."

Clarke frowned, not too happy about Lexa's behavior. "Not _my_ fault you decided to follow Raven and tag along, Lexa. That was your own choice."

"Yeah" Lexa scoffed, "Sorry for trying to _warn_ you."

"I didn't ask you to!" Clarke answered, getting angry by the minute, "Don't blame me for this. This is on you, and you alone. Beside, you should be happy" Clarke told her, "Slytherin's first in the House Cup list."

Lexa scoffed again, shaking her head, and left, heading to Slytherin's dungeons to pack her things. 

Sighing, Clarke went back to the library to tell her friends about her meeting with Dumbledore. 

* * *


	16. Second Trip : Magic(s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa are back to Beauxbatons. Clarke learns more about Quidditch and other forms of magic. Lexa seems bipolar. Two necklaces?

** Chapter 16 : Second trip : Magic(s)**

Clarke looked through the window, making out Beauxbatons' palace in the middle of the mountains. The blonde was relieved to see that they were finally arriving; not a word had been exchanged between the two girls since they had left Hogwarts. Clarke wouldn't have known what to say, anyways.

As last time, Titus, Lexa's tutor, was standing in front of the main entrance, a serious look on his face. Clarke hadn't think about it until now, but surely Titus already knew about their last disastrous adventure and by the look on his face, he clearly was ready to scold Lexa about it. 

"Aska, down" Clarke sighed, gesturing for her dog to jump out of the coach, getting ready to face the man who didn't seem to like her so much. 

"Lexa" Titus started, "You are late. You were supposed to arrive two days ago."

"I know, Titus" Lexa blankly answered. "A minus setback."

Titus looked as if he was going to answer, but for some reasons, decided to keep his thoughts for himself. "Your schedules" He said instead.

Clarke took a quick look at it, seeing that her first class was starting in half-an-hour already. Potions class. Clarke wondered if Harper and the others knew she was back; after all, they had been expecting her two days ago, and since she hadn't showed up, maybe they were thinking she wouldn't come.

Without waiting, the two girls headed towards the potions classroom, were Clarke was pleased to see Harper and Wick waiting in front of the room, as Lexa was already walking inside. 

"Clarke!" Harper exclaimed, coming towards her and giving her a big hug, "We thought you wouldn't come! Your last letter said that you had received homework, but you weren't there on Monday and so…"

"She's here now, Harper" Wick gently cut off the girl, moving to hug Clarke in her turn. "Was the travel ok? What delayed you?" He asked, more worried about the reasons why she was here two days later the original date.

"I'll explain later" Clarke smiled, "But everything's fine."

"Come on, class's about to start!" Harper took her hand, leading her into the classroom. "See you later, Wick!"

Clarke was glad that her first class back in Beauxbatons was potions, because in this class she was paired up with Harper; and frankly, seeing the girl after everything that had went down last week at Hogwarts was a real breath of fresh air, making her feel a bit guilty about her friends whom she had left at the school in the broody atmosphere.

During the class, Clarke was pleased to see that not all students had succeeded in writing their papers on time; and she actually understood what the teacher was saying, which really was a huge win for Clarke in potions class.

"Well done Clarke" Harper congratulated her at the end of the lesson, "You've really improved yourself."

Clarke thanked her, glad that her hard work and the end hours of late studying were paying off. In the back on her mind, she put a reminder to thank Hermione, too.

* * *

In Beauxbatons' main room, Clarke and Harper had met with the rest of their friends, Emori and John Murphy also glad the girl could have made it back. Clarke had tried to invite Lexa to join them, but the girl had told her she was needed elsewhere. 

"We thought you wouldn't come" Emori told her, "As you were supposed to be there by Monday. Then, we noticed Lexa wasn't here either, so we thought something had held you both back."

"Well, kind of" Clarke winced, not really looking forwards to explain the reasons why they almost hadn't make it back. She told them everything that had happened, and the consequences it had created. 

"A dragon? So cool" Emori whistled, "I wish I could have seen it."

"This Malfoy kind of sounds like a jerk" Harper noted. 

"He kind of is" Clarke shrugged. 

"And this Professor Snape you talked about, who is he?" Wick then asked. 

"Potions' teacher" Clarke answered, "He's awful. Particularly hard on Harry."

"Harry... Harry _Potter_ , right?" Murphy questioned. 

"Yes, that's him" Clarke eyed him, "You know about him?"

"Everyone knows his name, you know" Murphy rolled his eyes, "You know-who almost started a World War and every witches and wizards fought him, back in the days."

"We know _rumors_ " Emori gently corrected him, "But yeah, his name and his story isn't a secret, even here, in France."

Clarke nodded, thinking that it was making sense. 

"Oh, Clarke!" Harper then exclaimed, "There's a Quidditch match today, late afternoon! Bellefeuille against Ombrelune".

"You'll get to see two of the Viny sisters play" Wick told her, "There're really good players". 

"We suspect that Wick here is crushing on the second one" Emori whispered to her, a grin on her face, "But he just won't admit it."

Wick flipped her off, making the group laugh. 

"How is that they seem to be interested in you, anyways?" Harper wondered at loud, "Jade I understand, but Nathalia is not known for having a lot of friends. And Diana just turned _seventeen_ , I can't see why she would be interested in a first year" She said, apologizing right after, "No offense of course."

"None taken" Clarke hummed. "I'm asking myself the same questions. Last time I was there, Nathalia told me she was going to train me for Quidditch next time we would see each other. That's weird, right?"

"That's weird coming from her, yeah" Murphy agreed, "She's in my house, and she is not very… Friendly. Even less regarding Quidditch."

"And Diana did help you find out about something last time you were here, didn't she?" Harper said again. 

"Yup" Clarke said, suddenly remembering their encounter and what she had seen, then turning to Wick, the older student in their group. "Wick, what do you know about extra-corporal magic?"

"Well, not much" Wick frowned, not expecting the question. "When you are good enough with magic, you can sometimes cast spells without saying the words" He explained, "But it takes a lot of practice, and you still need your wand to direct the spell."

"One of my professors in Hogwarts, Snape" Clarke said, remembering that her new friends knew about Snape now, "I once saw him cast a spell with only mouthing the words and looking at a person, without any wand movements."

"Yes, it also exists" Wick shrugged, "But as I said, it is really advanced magic. As for extra-corporal magic, I only know of legends or rumors". 

"The rumors say that the Viny can produce that kind of magic" Murphy told her in a lowered voice, "Is that why you're asking this? You saw them do something?"

Clarke didn't answer straight away; she was _sure_ that at least Nathalia Viny was doing extra-corporal magic, but didn't know about the rest of her sisters. Yet, the tone of Murphy's voice, and the look on his face was making her think that maybe it wasn't such a good thing to tell them about what she had seen. 

"I've read about it" Clarke lied instead. "But I couldn't find anything on it, in Hogwarts."

They all seemed to accept her explanation, and she was relieved to see that they were dropping the subject and moving to something else. 

"Ugh, we still have two more papers to write" Harper groaned after a while, then asking Clarke, "Did you do them already?"

"Yes" Clarke confirmed once the girl had told her about the papers, "I received homework in Hogwarts, and did everything they had sent me."

"Lucky you" Wick sighed, "We're crowded with work."

"Us too" Clarke nodded, "Exams are not far away in Hogwarts."

"We still have a bit of time here" Emori told her, "But that doesn't keep them from giving us thousands of tons of homework."

They continued to chat all the way through lunch, before it was time for them to go study in the library. 

As Clarke had already done her papers, she started helping Harper on what she could, but quickly grew bored of having nothing to do. Harper chuckled at her, having noticed Clarke's restlessness. 

"Go on Clarke, go wander around" Harper smiled at her friend, "The quidditch teams must be having last-minute trainings before the game. Maybe you can head to the pitch, and we'll meet you there in a couple of hours." 

Clarke nodded, relieved she could get out of the library. On her heels, Aska himself was very happy with this outcome of their day; patient and quiet, he had stayed by Clarke's side all the way through their revision, meaning he had stayed inside for the most of the last four months. Once outside, Clarke began to head for the quidditch pitch, taking Harper's advice. On the way, she was throwing a ball into the air for Aska to go fetch - who was very happy to do so, and every time, he would run like crazy after the ball, and run as fast back to Clarke, giving her the ball and waiting for her to throw it again, making Clarke chuckle at his antics. 

Soon enough, the quidditch pitch was in sight, and Clarke put the ball back into her pocket, gesturing for Aska to come back to her side and follow her. In the stands, Clarke spotted Jade Viny, standing with a few other students, all closely watching the two teams up in the air, getting ready for the match. 

Clarke didn't have to wonder if she should go say hi to Jade, as the girl had already spotted her and was waving at her, gesturing for her to come join her. A few minutes later, Clarke was getting jumped on by a very-excited looking Jade, visibly happy to see her. 

"Clarke!" Jade shrieked in delight, quickly hugging the blonde, "You're here! We thought you weren't going to come!"

Clarke frowned, seeing that this thought seemed to be the main concern of everyone here at the school. 

"Clarke, meet Artigas, second year beater, and Matthew, also a beater and our team's captain" Jade introduced the boys standing next to her. "We all play for Papillonlisse."

"So you're here to gauge opposition, I presume?" Clarke said, a smile on her face to tell she was making a joke. 

"Something like that" Matthew, the older boy, said. "Artigas just started, so I want him to know what we will be up against, next week."

"We'll play whatever team loses this match" Jade explained. "Consolation game, if you will."

Clarke nodded, understanding that the game they were going to see later was probably confronting the two best teams. as they were watching the players get ready, Matthew was showing things to them, flying movements, passes between players, tricks… Everything that he could spot and read in the other teams' techniques. 

"That's Diana over there, right?" Clarke pointed her finger towards one of the moving players. 

"Yep" Jade confirmed, looking proud. "I want to half as good as her, later" The girl told Clarke. "Although I'll never be able to do what she does."

Clarke frowned at that, but didn't have time to question it further as Jade pointed towards another moving finger. "Look Clarke, Nat's here" She showed her other sister, dressed in purple, flying around at such a speed Clarke had trouble being sure it was indeed Nathalia. 

"She's quick" Clarke murmured. Jade nodded as Matthew was explaining some dodging techniques - or something like that. 

"Who do you think will win?" Clarke then asked the group. 

"Hard to say" The boy named Artigas answered, "Those two are pretty equal on the pitch". 

Clarke nodded, focusing back on the training once again. She had had those thoughts before, but seeing the players fly around, and having witnessed Potter play, Clarke was finding herself more and more interested in playing Quidditch herself. 

"You play, back in Hogwarts?" Matthew asked her, as if he had read her thoughts. 

"Nope" Clarke denied, "I am a first year, I can't make it into the team yet."

"But you'll play next year right?" Jade said as if it was completely logical for Clarke to play. 

"I don't know" Clarke shrugged. "I didn't even know about this sport until last September."

"Yeah well that's a _shame_ really" Jade now seemed angry, but weirdly enough, Clarke could see that the girl wasn't angry at _her_ but rather at something Clarke had yet to discover. "My sister will train you."

Once again, Clarke didn't push it with the questions, figuring that she would run into either of the older Viny sisters. Slowly, students were starting to come into the stands, probably announcing the start of the game, coming soon.

"Where are they going?" Clarke frowned, as the quidditch players that once were up in the air were now coming down on solid groups and getting under the stands.

"They are going to prep themselves for the match, getting changed, hearing the captain's pep talk and everything" Matthew told her. "I have to go meet with the others. Bye Clarke, it was nice meeting you."

Clarke smiled back, watching him walk away as she spotted Harper and the others coming towards her - surprisingly, Lexa was with them, too.

"I'm going to check on my sisters before their match" Jade told her, "But we'll see each other tonight, right?"

"Tonight?" Clarke asked, not aware of anything happening tonight. 

"Yes!" Come find us" Jade winked at Clarke before leaving, lightly jogging away from the blonde. 

"Hey Clarke" Harper smiled at her, taking a seat next to her as Lexa was silently sitting by Clarke's other side, "Didn't get too bored, waiting for us?"

"No it was ok" Clarke truthfully answered, "I've met Matthew and Artigas, quidditch players from Papillonlisse. They seem cool."

"Oh right, I didn't tell you!" Emori then exclaimed, looking happy, "I've made it into the team, after the trials, remember last time you came? I'm Papillonlisse's keeper now!"

"Yeah I remember, well done!" Clarke was happy for her, "I'm sad I won't get to see you play, though."

"It's ok" Emori chuckled, "Next time!"

The teams were coming back on the pitch and the now full stands had erupted into shouts and cheers. The game soon started, and the players were up in the air, all moving almost too quickly for humans' eyes to follow them. 

"Look, Diana's scored one!" Harper cheered as the older Viny girl had effectively scored ten points by throwing the ball into the highest ring, "Go Bellefeuille!"

The two teams were tied, scoring points after one another, keeping their scores close. But then, Clarke spotted something weird as she was watching Nathalia fly around; bludgers seemed to avoid her everytime they got somehow close to her. Clarke then widen her eyes; extra-corporal magic. Nathalia was surely using it to divert the dangerous balls from herself. 

Throwing a quick look at Lexa, who was closely looking at the same thing, Clarke was sure the brunette knew about it, too. 

"She's…" Clarke started, but Lexa was faster. 

"Cheating?" Lexa raised a brow, "Yup, that she is."

Clarke frowned, because that couldn't be allowed, could it? 

But Lexa didn't give her any answers, as she pointed to Diana instead. "Look at Bellefeuille's captain."

Clarke fixated Diana, seeing her fly around for a couple of minutes. Clarke noticed that something was off, but couldn't put her finger on it. 

"She's using the wind" Lexa whispered so no one else could hear her. "Bending it, making it go wherever she goes with her broomstick."

Clarke's eyes widened again. "So... The broom is not what make her fly?"

"No it is not" Lexa had a small smile on her face, "Actually, I even think this is a regular _muggle_ broom."

Clarke was stunned; people seemed to be cheating in both teams, and everybody looked oblivious to it. "How can they do that anyways?"

"Ask them about it, later" Lexa suggested, as their attention returned to the game when Ombrelune scored another ten points. 

"I'm not sure I'll get answers" Clarke murmured. 

"You will" Lexa said, gently smiling at her. "They seem to like you."

Clarke hummed, because that was her feeling, too; but it was bothering her that she couldn't explain why. She had this feeling that she was missing something, that she had something right under her eyes, right in front of her, but that she was still incapable of seeing it. Like she couldn't understand the big picture; and she was frustrated beyond words about that. Clarke noted that Lexa had lost her cold face, even looking _warm_ when she was talking to her. It was like Lexa had something keeping her from being kind, sometimes; but the girl _was_ kind from time to time, nice, even. Dying to bring up the matter to Lexa, but knowing that now was not the time, Clarke dropped those thoughts and focused back on the game. 

Wick had been right; the Viny sisters were amazing on their brooms. Circulating each other, always being exactly where they needed to be, both were reigning over the pitch with an easiness that was deconcerting. Fascinated, Clarke couldn't take her eyes out of the sisters, wishing that one day, she could be as good with the broom as they were. 

"You wanna play?" Lexa gently asked, eyes still on the sky and the players moving around. "Quidditch."

"I don't know" Clarke answered, although she was finding herself thinking more and more about the game. 

"You'd be good at it, if you ever wanted to play" Lexa offered her. "I've seen you on a broom, you were born for this Clarke. It's in your blood."

Clarke nodded, thinking about the names written on crests, hanging on the trophy wall of Beauxbatons.

"Do you know more? About my family?" Clarke questioned as Bellefeuille was scoring again. 

"I know some things" Lexa absentedly nodded. "but I am not the one you should talk to about it."

Clarke frowned. "Why?"

"Because _they_ " Lexa pointed to Jade, standing right at the foot of one of the stands, watching her sisters, "They know more about _your_ family than me."

Fiddling with the ruby stone on the necklace her mother had offered for Christmas, Clarke lost herself in her thoughts; that's the reason why she jumped, surprised when everyone started shouting and cheering. Ombrelune's seeked had caught the snitch, and won them the game. 

Cheering with the others, Clarke was watching Ombrelune's players congratulate themselves while all of Bellefeuille's team had immediately put foot back on the ground, creating a circle around Diana, their captain, probably debriefing with each other about what went wrong and what was to improve in their next game. Clarke got down the stands, noticing how all of Bellefeuille's players seemed to listen carefully to their captain, and seemed at peace with themselves, even after a lost match. 

"They respect her" Lexa murmured to her when she noticed that Clarke had stopped walking back to the palace, "Because she never gets mad, even when they lose a match. She never put the blame on one person only, even if this person is the worst quidditch player ever" The brunette explained, as Clarke's admiration for the older Viny was growing by the minute, "She takes all of their individual errors as team failures; as if it was the team's fault if the person didn't play right." Lexa told her. "For Diana, everything is about family and loyalty; she believes in growing together to make each other better". 

"She'll be a great wizard" Clarke said. 

"She already is" Lexa gently smiled at the blonde, and there was a kindness in her smile that Clarke had never seen before; almost like Lexa knew something, a kind of beautiful secret, that she was choosing not to share right now. 

"She could have been a Hufflepuff, in Hogwarts" Clarke then chuckled, trying to picture Diana with Hufflepuff's yellow colors. 

"Yeah, maybe" Lexa let another tiny smile escape on her mouth. "Come on, your friends are waiting for you." 

And Lexa started walking back towards the palace, Aska setting himself on mouvement too, trailing behind Lexa, but stopping when he noticed that Clarke wasn't following. At Lexa's words, Clarke had frowned. 

"Lexa, wait" Clarke called up, making Lexa stop. 

"They could be _your_ friends too, if you wanted" Clarke gently said. 

"Thank you, Clarke" Lexa nodded, a ghost of a smile still present on her lips. "But I am not good with friends."

In silence, they walked back to the palace, where diner was going to be served. 

"I'll meet you in the dorms, ok?" Lexa told her. 

Clarke nodded, not really knowing why Lexa wouldn't come to dinner. But then again, Lexa seemed to have a mind of her own. 

* * *

Heading back to her dorm after having filled her stomach with a lot more food that she should have, Clarke yawned, lightly tossing Aska's ball into the corridors to give him a chance to run around one last time before Clarke would go to sleep. 

But as Aska's ball was rolling away from them on the floor, the ball suddenly stopped itself for a few seconds, to then come straight back into Clarke's hands who almost didn't see it coming. 

"What the hell..." Clarke murmured, looking around to see if it was some kind of a prank or something. 

Then, she remembered what she had seen on the Quidditch pitch and about Lexa's words. Nathalia could move objects. 

"I know you're here, somewhere" Clarke said at loud, praying that she was right; if she wasn't, she would be found talking to herself in an empty corridor. 

"I am sorry, Clarke" Nathalia suddenly came out of nowhere, standing in front of Clarke, as Jade was rushing to her side. "Jade told you to find us after the game, but you weren't there and she thought you hadn't understand."

"Understand what?" Clarke frowned. 

Nathalia sighed, scolding her sister with a look. "We don't have a lot of abroad students" The girl explained, "Jade wanted us to help you, with whatever you need." 

"Why is it always my fault?" Jade protested, "You both were as impatient as I..." But the younger sister couldn't end her sentence as Nathalia had quickly put her hand on her sister's mouth, shutting her off. 

"I would like to teach you about Quidditch" Nathalia then said. "If it is something that you want."

"I'm not sure a first year is allowed to fly around the school on a broom..." Clarke trailed off. 

"If supervised by a quidditch team member who is training you, you can" Nathalia told her. "Our houses' teams play a lot against another school, Japan's" The girl informed her, "But as the japanese are way better than we are, so the school lets us train potential recruits, even if they're first years and that they won't make it into the team until at least the next year."

"I don't know why..." Clarke struggled to find her words, "I mean, why _me_ ?" Clarke found herself asking a question she must already had asked a thousand times since her first day of school. "Why not train _Lexa_? She's better than me in everything". 

"But Lexa isn't our..." Once again, Jade was cut off by her sister putting her hand on her mouth. 

"Because Lexa doesn't want to play Quidditch" Nathalia said instead, throwing a dark look at her sister that didn't go unnoticed by Clarke. 

"Alright then" Clarke nodded, "I'm in."

"Great" Nathalia smiled, and for maybe the first time since Clarke had first met the sisters, they seemed like normal teenagers, both way older than Clarke. Nathalia seemed to be around Bellamy's age, so she probably was a fourth year and being at least fifteen and Jade, although the younger sister, wasn't _that_ young and couldn't be less than thirteen. 

"So, you'll meet me by the youth fountain, tomorrow morning before your first class. Alright?"

"The _youth_ fountain?" Clarke raised a brow. 

"Flamel's fountain" Jade explained, a chuckle escaping her, "Everyone say that its water can cure any disease, but franckly" She shrugged, "I've had the flu for a whole week last year, even with drinking one class of that water every day."

"That's because it is _not_ drinkable water" Nathalia sighed, a bit looking like she was desperate about her little sister. "I'll see you tomorrow, Clarke" She then said, walking away with Jade in toe. 

Clarke suddenly remembered something. 

"Nathalia!" She called her, "Well done by the way, for the game. You're a great player."

Nathalia nodded, a gentle smile growing on her face as she was thanking the blonde for the compliment. "Thanks, Clarke. but I'll never as good as you will be, though."

And without another word, the sisters were gone as quickly as they had appeared. 

* * *

In the council room, Lexa was patiently waiting, hands clasped behind her back, as Titus was pacing into the room, furious. 

"What were you thinking, walking around at school in the middle of the night?" Titus scolded the girl, "Do you have a death wish or something? Tell me Lexa, because I will _not_ support this nonsense any longer!"

Gritting her teeth, Lexa kept silent, knowing well speaking up would make things worse. She only had to wait until the storm was over. 

"You lost Slytherin fifty points in one row" Titus continued, "I have _never_ heard of something like that. And what about this dragon that they told me about? Were you involved in this, too?"

"I have _nothing_ to do with the dragon" Lexa answered, not being able to keep herself from talking anymore. "I learnt they were going to be in trouble and I acted to _protect_ them."

"To protect them, now?" Titus ironically said, "Don't tell me you have _friends,_ Lexa."

"I don't" Lexa said, lowering her voice; this was the absolute truth. She was utterly alone, and she couldn't call Hogwarts students as friends. Hell, she could not even say that Clarke was a friend. 

"Lexa, you know how important our mission is. What if they had decided to expel you?" Titus said, having calmed himself down a little, "Don't go meddle in things that don't concern you anymore."

Lexa nodded, taking this as her cue to leave the room and be able to finally go back to her dorm. Once outside of the council room, she took a couple of seconds to breathe out and trying to calm herself. This would be even more complicated than she originally thought. 

* * *

When she made it back to her dorm, Clarke noticed that Lexa was already there, changed into her pyjamas and reading some book. 

"Hi" Clarke aknowledged her while going straight to her closet to change clothes, "What are you reading? Something about mysterious spells or potions?"

"This is about magical creatures, actually" Lexa answered, closing the book and putting it on her nightstand. 

"Is this Beauxbatons' ?" Clarke frowned, changing her shirt, "I don't recognize the front cover."

"No it's not. It's not a book used at any school. Or maybe at Dumstrang." Lexa told her. 

"Where is this school?" Clarke asked, sighing with relief as she was sliding under her comfortable covers, Aska settling at her feet. He was getting bigger, and heavier, and Clarke was wondering how much he was going to grow. 

"Upper Scandinavia" Lexa answered, still sitting in her bed, watching the Blonde with a weird look that Clarke couldn't explain. 

"What?" Clarke finally raised a brow at the brunette. 

"You've seen the Vinys?" Lexa asked. 

"I've seen Jade and Nathalia, yes." Clarke paused. "Nathalia wants to train me with Quidditch."

"Oh" Lexa hummed, "That's cool. I guess."

Clarke chuckled, amused by Lexa's attempts to be… Nice? When had _that_ happened? Then, Clarke remembered about their last time in Beauxbatons, where Lexa hadn't been able to sleep alone. 

"Lexa" Clarke said, "You want to come with me?"

"Where?" Lexa asked, although she perfectly knew what Clarke was talking about.

"Come on" Clarke offered a gentle smile, lifting up one end of her covers.

Lexa waited a few seconds, an indescriptible look on her face, before getting up and settling in the bed by Clarke's side. As if they knew the girls were ready to sleep, the lights went out. 

"Lexa, earlier you said you weren't great with friends" Clarke then murmured into the quiet room, "What did you mean?"

"I mean that I am not… _Made_ to be friends" Lexa only answered, although Clarke could hear a certain vulnerability in her voice. 

"Who said that?" Clarke rolled on her side so she was now facing Lexa. 

"Me" Lexa shrugged, then seemed to hesitate. "Titus."

"I don't like than man" Clarke truthfully confessed as Lexa was letting a quiet chuckle escape her throat. 

"He's all I have" Lexa told her. 

"Still" Clarke yawned. "It shouldn't make it ok". 

"Sleep, Clarke" Lexa murmured in the black room as she was herself starting to fall alseep. 

* * *

Next morning, Clarke was up early as Nathalia had told her to meet her before classes. Still groggy with sleep, she started to lightly jog to wake herself up a little bit more, Aska happy to follow her as they were heading to the youth fountain. 

Nathalia was already there, dressed with some pants and purple sweater, hair up in a ponytail, looking like she had been up for more than a couple of hours already. There was something mysterious about her, more than with her two sisters, almost as if Nathalia was _waiting_ for Clarke to figure something out. 

"Hello Clarke" She greeted the Blonde with a smile, "How are you?"

"Fine" Clarke said, repressing yet another yawn. It didn't escape Nathalia's trained eyes though, as the girl was gesturing for Clarke to follow her on the path leading to the Quidditch pitch. 

"So today we'll review basics" Nathalia said. "We'll learn about the balls, ground rules, stuff like that."

"I already know some of that" Clarke told her. "My friends in Hogwarts explained it."

"Yeah well, we'll start again either way" Nathalia shrugged. "That way, I'm sure you've integrated all the basics."

Clarke almost rolled her eyes, but kept silent, walking behind the girl as they finally entered the pitch. They headed towards a big trunk, which seemed to be slightly shaking. 

"So, as you probably know" Nathalia started, "A quidditch team is made out of seven players. Three chasers - like me and my sisters, who throw this red ball, named the Quaffle, to each other and try to toss it into one of the rings. Ten points each time. Got it?"

Clarke hummed, knowing that already. 

"Then, on each side there's a player named the Keeper, trying to keep the other team from throwing the Quaffle into the rings."

"My friend Emori's the new keeper for Papillonlisse." Clarke said. 

"Yeah, I've seen her on a broom, she's not bad" Nathalia nodded, happy that Clarke was following. "Those two balls are Bludgers" She pointed them to Clarke, "They will try to get you off your broom, so there's two Beaters on each team who will try to divert the Bludgers towards the other team."

"But you don't need Beaters to protect you, do you?" Clarke narrowed her eyes at the girl, who only smirked in return, choosing not to comment Clarke's words. 

"Last but not least, this is the Golden Snitch" Nathalia showed her the tiny bright gold ball with little fluttering silver wings. "It's the seeker's job to catch it, which wins you an extra hundred and fifty points and end the game. A game of Quidditch only stop when the Snitch is caught, so if both teams have bad seekers, it can go on for ages."

"Has that ever happened?" Clarke asked, wondering how long a quidditch match could last. 

"Rumors say the record is three months" Nathalia shrugged as Clarke's eyes were widening. "So, which role would you like to play?"

"I don't know" Clarke truthfully answered, not finding herself good enough for any of the roles. 

"You would make a great Seeker" Nathalia wondered at loud. 

But Clarke shook her head no. "Gryffindor already has a great Seeker. Believe me, there's no one better than the seeker we already have."

"Alright, so not Seeker. Let's get you up in the air" Nathalia threw a broom at the blonde, quickly jumping on her own broom and getting up in the air, not waiting for Clarke. 

At the second that Clarke's feet had left the ground, Aska started howling, visibly not agreeing with Clarke being far from him. 

"It will be ok boy" Clarke told him, then thinking about something, "Go find Lexa, and stay with her until I'm finished. You like Lexa, right?"

Aska didn't answer of course, but he only barked once more, then jogged back towards the palace. Clarke had to say, it was a strange sensation to see Aska walk away from her, as he had never left her side since the day she had found him. 

"Clarke!" Nathalia took her out of her thoughts, "You're ready?"

"Ready for…" Clarke couldn't finish her question as a ball had just knocked her off. 

* * *

An hour and a half later, Clarke was so sweaty she was sure she had already lost three kilos of liquids. 

"Come on Clarke, one more!" Nathalia encouraged her, throwing yet another ball at her as Clarke was supposed to dodge it. Quickly moving to the right to avoid being hit by Nathalia's ball - which Clarke was sure she had thrown at her with her powers or something -, Clarke spotted a moving figure on the ground. 

"Nathalia, let the girl have a rest!" Diana's voice reached them. Clarke was _very_ relieved to hear the older girl, as it meant training was over and that she could go rest a bit. Getting back on the ground, Clarke could see Diana had a small proud smile on her face, which she didn't know who it was for. 

"So Clarke, which player will you be?" Diana asked as Nathalia was smiling at Clarke, satisfied with the training session they just had had. 

"Chaser" Clarke confidently said, having thought a lot about it during their training, "I want to play Chaser."

"Of course you do" Diana chuckled as if the answer was obvious. "Welcome into Quidditch World, Clarke."

Clarke grinned at the sisters, also a bit proud of herself; she was starting to think that maybe Quidditch actually _was_ in her blood and that she was in fact a bit of a natural at it. Then, she remembered something about the Viny girls.

"How is any team supposed to win against you, if you both use magic to win?" Clarke asked. 

Diana threw an interrogating look at her sister, who only shrugged. "I didn't tell her anything" Nathalia denied. 

"We are allowed to use our magic because there's one of us in every Beauxbatons Quidditch teams, making it fair."

" _We_?" Clarke frowned, having picked it up. 

You already know about Nathalia's extra-corporal magic" Diana started. "Well, all four of us also use this kind of magic."

"Four ?" Clarke frowned again, not following.

"The both of us, plus Jade, and our little brother Timothé" Nathalia specified with her french accent while saying her brother's name. "He's too young to attend Beauxbatons yet, but you'll meet him, one day."

"You see Clarke" Diana started talking again, directing them towards the stands where they could sit while they talked, "Making magic with saying spells while waving a wand around is not the only form of magic. In fact, it is not a _form_ of magic at all" Diana told her, "But rather a _way_ to wield it. Magic is like… A _force_ , you understand? Like an entity in itself, something that already exists all around us and that wizards and witches possess deep inside themselves. Either you are a muggle, and you won't ever be able to feel and access it, or you're a magical being and this is a complete part of yourself."

"But how can you explain that I have never felt it, before taking my first classes?" Clarke frowned. 

Nathalia seemed to want to answer that, but was cut off by Diana, who spoke again, throwing a dark look at her sister to shut her up - which didn't go unnoticed by the Blonde. "Sometimes, wizards in muggle families have what can be called a _dormant magic_ , which only awakes when being solicitated in classes" Diana explained, "Or when instinctively need it to ensure survival." 

Clarke nodded, following Diana's explanations for now. 

"First there's basic magic, the most common form" Diana said again, getting her wand out of her robe, "Which needs a secondary way to be used, like a wand. _Incendio_ " Diana said, creating a small controlled fire on the bench in front of them, then making it disappear with one twist of the wrist.

"You can also use magic with only the strength of your mind, without saying any words." When she stopped talking, another little fire started out, a few feet from them at the spot where Diana was looking, obviously having been started by her. 

"I've been told it was advanced magic" Clarke murmured, remembering her friends' words when she had mentioned Snape's doings. 

"It is" Diana nodded. "Then, you have corporal magic, and extra-corporal magic" She said, getting up. "The first one is being able to use magic with only your body, as if it was your _body_ that was the wand." 

Clarke watched as Diana threw one hand in front of her, effectively starting out another fire, quickly putting it off. Amazed, Clarke wondered where Diana could have learned to do all of that; surely, they didn't teach this in Beauxbatons. 

"The second one, extra-corporal magic, is being able to control some other forces, on top of the basic magic force" Diana finally said. Slowly, Clarke felt the wind picking up, blowing more and more as it seemed to circle around Diana, not as an erratic form like a tornado, but rather like a obedient wind that was following Diana's every movements. 

"Like magic, you can learn to control it if you have it in you; if you don't, you can't _learn_ it, as muggles can't learn to do magic" Diana told her, "Either it's in your DNA, or it is not." She dropped her arms, and the wind immediately stopped blowing. 

"So you can bend the wind at will" Clarke deduced. "That's why you have this very characteristic flying technique I had never seen before."

"Yes" Diana nodded. "Extra-corporal magic usually involves basic nature elements, like wind, water, earth…" 

"So what's your type?" Clarke asked to Nathalia. 

"As everything is made out of atoms, everything vibrates at a certain frequency. I can sense it, and thus make it move." Nathalia explained as she was slowly taking Clarke's shoes' laces out. 

"There's one last kind of magic, which you already know about" Diana said. "Dark magic, also called Dark Arts. It often requires malicious intentions to be used, and is said to corrupt anyone that uses it. It's a very powerful magic and very difficult to control, not necessarily evil, but who almost always takes a toll on the user's soul."

"Why would such a thing exists, if it's that bad?" Clarke wondered. 

"Because not everyone has good intentions, Clarke" Diana sighed, "And because even the Wizard World is full of dangers."

Clarke nodded. "How did you know you could do… _That_?"

"After our little brother was born" Diana answered. "All four of us were in the garden, when something caused a tree to fall off, heading directly towards Timothé which was sleeping in his crib. We just acted. Nathalia made the tree explode in thousands of pieces and I blew them all away. It lasted only a couple of seconds, but by then, we knew what we could do. Our parents had heard of this kind of magic, so they later trained us."

"And Jade?" 

"You'll ask her yourself" Nathalia chuckled, "She'll be more than happy to answer and show you."

They stayed in silence for a couple more minutes, before Diana spoke again. 

"It's time you go to class, Clarke. We'll see you later."

And the Viny sisters were gone, leaving Clarke alone with even more questions than she had at the beginning of their talk. 

* * *

The followings days flew by at lightening speed; as they already had come here later than they were supposed to, they were already going back to Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon; which Clarke was really sad about. 

As this trip was supposed to only last a week, to finally be a four-days trip, Clarke had not received any letters from her friends on the situation in Hogwarts, but she was expecting to find the atmosphere quite similar to what she had left it to, and she was really _not_ looking forwards to go home. 

Nathalia had been training her for a couple of days now, using almost every free-time the girls had to head to the quidditch pitch and get Clarke better on a broom; Clarke herself could see the real progress she had made on such a short time, and was glad she had worked her ass off back at Hogwarts with all her assignments so she had time to practice now. 

As Emori was just starting playing Quidditch too, sometimes Matthew and her would join their training; it was perfect occasion really, as Emori could play Keeper and try to block Clarke's balls from getting into the rings, forcing Clarke to improve her techniques. Clarke was glad to see the teams were often training together, even if they were adversaries on the pitch on game days. 

However, as Clarke was spending more and more time with her friends and Nathalia, Lexa was more and more closing herself off in her shell once again, just when Clarke had thought they were becoming some kind of friends. The only few words they were ever exchanging was when Clarke was coming to take Aska back, who now always knew when to go find Lexa and wait patiently for Clarke to be done with training, running to the girl at the second he could smell her, walking in the corridors.

One morning, Clarke fell off her broom when one of the Bludgers hit the tail of her broom, sending her to the ground. Thankfully, Nathalia had seen it coming, so she had used the sand from the ground to slow down Clarke's fall so she wouldn't hurt herself, as the sand had caught Clarke mid-fall and put her down safely on the ground. Aska had come running like a animal taken with rabies, probably sensing that Clarke was in danger, closely followed by Lexa who had seen the dog take off. 

After that morning, Clarke had practiced with Jade the _Spongify_ spell, which could soften everything and keep Clarke from crashing herself on the ground next time she would fall off her broom. 

This evening, Clarke couldn't bear Lexa's silence anymore, and confronted her in their dorms. 

"Lexa, what's going on?" Clarke put herself right in front of the girl so she couldn't avoid their conversation. 

"What are you talking about, Clarke" Lexa frowned, getting around the Blonde to rummage through her trunk, looking for something. 

"you grow colder towards me by the minute" Clarke huffed, tired of hearing Lexa deny it. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on Clarke" Lexa snorted back, "Not everything is about you, you know."

Clarke huffed again, seeing that this discussion wouldn't go anywhere. Lexa was a wall you couldn't talk to, and it was pointless to hope to gain answers from her. Going back to her bed, she randomly picked out a book off her trunk to keep her mind busy. 

She didn't notice the sad look Lexa threw her way, nor did she saw how Lexa was hitching to reach out to her and explain herself. It was time for bed, and as Clarke was still angry for the lack of explanations over the Brunette's behavior, she didn't tell Lexa to come sleep with her and got under her covers, the nose still in the book she had picked up. 

Finally, Lexa silently came over to the Blonde's bed, sitting on it and looking as if she was trying to gather the courage to talk. Deciding to let Lexa struggle for a bit, Clarke didn't acknowledge her and kept reading. 

"I am sorry" Lexa finally whispered, and there was so much fragility in the girl's voice that Clarke immediately closed her book so she could focus on the other girl. "I don't mean to… I just…" Lexa huffed at her apparent incapacity to speak clearly, "I am not used to have.. Someone." Lexa finally said. 

"I can understand that" Clarke answered, "But I am _not_ your enemy. Don't treat me like I'm a threat to you."

"I know that" Lexa quickly said, pausing for a couple of seconds before talking again. "I lost someone special to me once, because of who I was."

Clarke figured out that it was because she was a Woods. "And you just stopped caring? About everyone?"

Lexa nodded; breaking Clarke's heart in the progress. 

"I could never do that" Clarke told her. "My friends, they are all I have."

"Then you put all of them in danger" Lexa only said. "Love is weakness."

"Well, I refuse to believe that" Clarke shrugged. "Love is a force, too. Now come on, I'm dying to sleep."

A bit surprised that Clarke would still agree on letting her sleep with her, Lexa didn't wait to be asked twice, and got under the covers. 

* * *

Next morning, all their bags were packed as it was time for both of them to go back to Hogwarts. Clarke said goodbye to her friends over breakfast, promising that she would write to them and telling them she would try to come back whenever she would have the chance. 

After a last training with Nathalia and with Jade throwing her advices of her own, she had thanked Nathalia for all her teachings and said her goodbye to teach, promising them she would keep up with learning new flying techniques and everything. 

As it was almost time to go, Clarke headed towards the main doors, where she knew their coach would be ready to take them home. 

"Clarke!" A voice then called her up. Turning around, Clarke saw that it was Diana. 

"I wanted to say goodbye" Diana told the Blonde. "Until we see each other again". 

Clarke smiled back. "Until next time, then." Diana was going to say something, but that when Clarke's noticed something strange. A faint glowing light, coming from under the Viny girl's light green shirt.

"Diana, something's wrong" Clarke pointed to the shirt. 

Diana lowered her eyes, first not understanding what Clarke was talking about, and then immediately paling when she saw it too. "It's nothing, it's just…"

But then, Clarke frowned, feeling a weird tingling sensation on her own chest. Quickly looking down, she saw the same glowing light, but redder. Immediately putting a hand inside her shirt, Clarke took out the necklace her mother had gifted her for Christmas, holding it in front of her as the ruby stone was making some light Clarke had never seen it do before. 

but Clarke didn't have time to question Diana about what was glowing under her own shirt as Nathalia was coming towards them, oblivious to what was happening. 

"Clarke, you're still not gone yet?… Shit Diana, the necklace" Nathalia let the words escape before she could put her own hand over her mouth to shut herself off. 

Slowly, Diana took out the sliver chain around her neck, removing the glowing light from under her shirt and holding it for Clarke to see. It was a light rose gem, trapped in a silver pendant. Just like Clarke's. 

Stunned, Clarke took a couple steps closer to the girl, putting both pendants next to each other, noticing with wide eyes as the glow was growing the closer they were to each other. 

" _Explain this_ " Clarke pleaded, although thousands of theories were already running in her mind, desperate to connect the dots. 

Diana and her sister silently seemed to consult each other on what to do. In the end, it was Nathalia that broke her resolve first. 

"Come on, Dina" She sighed, "She has the right to know."

Nodding after a couple of seconds, Diana let Clarke to the side of the corridor where they could sit on an unoccupied bench. 

"This necklaces had been passed down for generations" Diana gently started, putting them side by side. "Originally magically created for five sisters, they are passed down to first-born girls."

"Wait" Clarke frowned, remembering that her mother had said the necklace had been part of the family for a long time, "That doesn't make sense, it would mean…"

Clarke stopped talking, as the big picture was suddenly exploding in her mind, all dots connecting with each other. Actually, everything made sense now. 

"We're part of the same family, aren't we…?" Clarke whispered, secretly praying for it to be really true. 

Diana nodded, a gentle and reassuring smile on her face. 

"That's why you've been following me around, the three of you" Clarke deduced, "Why you knew about Quidditch players named Griffin. But… How?"

"Our grandfathers were brothers" Nathalia gently told her. "Our mother is a Griffin, but she got married, and got another name."

Clarke was as enjoyed as she was sad; why would her own parents keep her from something like that? They had to know, surely her father knew about his own father's siblings, right? This was not something that could stay hidden. 

"Clarke, it's time to go!" They then heard Lexa called her from the main doors. Panicked at the idea of having to leave, Clarke looked at the sisters, who were actually her distant _cousins,_ desparate for a solution to stay with them more. 

"It's ok, Clarke" Diana gently smiled at her, calming her down by putting a hand on the Blonde's shoulder, "We will come see you soon. I promise."

Reluctantly, Clarke nodded, then putting her eyes on the glowing necklaces. 

"Why the glowing?" She asked, hearing Lexa call her name once more. 

"Griffins' necklaces recognize each other, when worn by a Griffin." Diana told her with a small smile. "They glow when they are around each other."

Clarke nodded, desperately wanting to jump into the arms of this person she was already looking up to before she knew they were from the same family tree. 

"Go, Clarke" Diana said as Lexa was walking towards them, wondering what was taking Clarke so long.

"Welcome to the family" Nathalia winked at her, even though Clarke could see the moisture in her eyes. 

They walked away as Lexa was reaching Clarke. 

"Clarke?" Lexa asked, "Is everything ok?"

"Yes" Clarke answered, heart constricting at the sight of her cousins walking away from her. "Let's go". 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was soooo long, I think the longest one I've written yet! Maybe I should have divided it in two, but I didn't want too many chapters about the Beauxbatons storyline yet, as we're approaching the end of year one!


	17. The Forbidden Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have detention. Malfoy doesn't have a lot of bravery in himself. The gang encounter yet another magical creature.

**Chapter 17 : The Forbidden Forest**

In the coach, Clarke was lost deep in her thought. She had cousins. She had a whole family that she had never known about until today. As much as Clarke was turning over and over in her head, she couldn't find a single logical explanation as to why her parents had never mentioned the rest of their family to her. It was impossible that his father didn't know about his own father's brothers, and the existence of his relatives. Her mother too must have known about this, because she obviously knew about the necklace being in the family for generations, and she knew enough about the magic world to surely be aware of the magic it was holding. Clarke threw a quick glance at the girl in front of her. Lexa must have known about this, too, because if not, why would she had brought Clarke to Beauxbatons in the first place? But then again, why bring her and not tell her anything? 

Lexa had noticed that something was weighing on Clarke's mind, as the girl hadn't say a single word since they had taken off from Beauxbatons. And that was _very_ unusual for Clarke. 

"Clarke?" Lexa finally asked after an hour of silence, "Are you ok?"

Clarke gritted her teeth; L exa had been lying to her since the very beginning, maybe even knowing about Clarke's family before she had even _met_ Clarke. 

"I don't know Lexa" Clarke let out with a bitter voice, "How would _you_ feel if you had just discovered that you've been lied to about the existence of a whole family?"

Lexa gasped, not having expecting it. "But... How..."

Clarke took out her necklace from under her shirt. "Griffin necklaces" Clarke showed to Lexa, "Diana's and mine's glowed, when close to each other."

Lexa nodded, remembering Diana had told her about those family necklaces one time, when they were younger. 

"You knew about this" Clarke then said in an accusing voice that reflected the betrayal she was feeling inside herself. 

"I did" Lexa answered, lowering her eyes and bracing herself for what would come next. 

"How could you _not_ tell me?" Clarke asked, angry at the Brunette, "When you knew all along that part of my family was there, talking to me like we were _strangers_! I thought you were bringing me to that school to get answers!"

"And you _did_ !"

"I discovered this on my own!" Clarke protested, her voice raising in volume as she was getting upset, "And I probably still wouldn't know about it if I hadn't noticed Diana's necklace under her shirt!"

"That was not for me to say!" Lexa answered back, her too getting upset at being Clarke's punching ball. 

"But you _knew_ , Lexa" Clarke calmed herself down. "You knew how many questions I had. Why I was a witch when all of my family seemed to be muggle. Why my name was written on Beauxbatons' walls. _You_ were the one to tell me they were part of my family. You should have told me the Vinys were my cousins."

"Clarke..." Lexa started. 

"Don't, Lexa" Clarke ended the discussion, turning her head towards the window. "You should have told me."

* * *

Moments later, Clarke was walking towards Gryffindor's tower, dragging her feet on the big stones paving the corridors. Saying the password to the big fat lady, Clarke got into the common room, exhausted and feeling like she had aged twenty years in one day. 

"Clarke!" Someone exclaimed, throwing themselves at her neck, "You're back!"

"Hi Octavia" Clarke weakly smiled, hugging the brunette back, happy to be around someone she was comfortable with again. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" Octavia frowned, immediately noticing that Clarke looked sad. Or upset. "Did something happen in Beauxbatons?"

Clarke couldn't answer, as Hermione was getting down on the stairs, coming from their dorm. 

"Clarke, you're here" Hermione smiled, to also frowned when she saw the Blonde's facial expression. "What is the matter?"

Clarke gestured for them to go sit on the couch; she was glad there were not many students in the common room, so they would be able to talk freely. Clarke explained everything to them, telling them how Nathalia had trained her for Quidditch, her suspicions about the reasons why the Vinys seemed to be interested in her, to end with the discovery of them being distant cousins. 

"What the hell..." Octavia murmured, "I thought… I thought you didn't had any family". 

"That's what I thought too" Clarke hummed, "But after last time, and Diana telling me about former quidditch players from Beauxbatons, I knew I had wizards in the family. I just didn't expect to actually _meet_ witches members."

"And you said Lexa knew?" Hermione gently asked. 

"Yeah" Clarke sighed. "I don't know how she knew, but then she used to go to Beauxbatons for pre-school so maybe she met them here and knew about them before even meeting me."

"Can I see the necklace?" Hermione asked again, as Clarke was nodding and taking the necklace out of her neck, handing it over to her friend. "I have never heard of such a thing" Hermione told them, "I didn't know they could create magical objects, made to recognize each other when worn by specific people."

"So it glowed, when you got close to Diana?" Octavia questioned, to be sure she was following. 

"Yes" Clarke confirmed. "The stone in her necklace is a light rose gem."

"How many of those are in your family?" Hermione then asked, giving the necklace back to Clarke. 

"I don't know" Clarke sighed. "She didn't have time to tell me more about it."

The three of them kept silent for a couple of minutes, all of them trying to figure out what this could mean. But their quiet peace was suddenly interrupted when Raven came crashing down the stairs, having jumped from unknown place, making the three of them jump. 

"Damnit Raven!" Octavia threw a cushion at her, mad to have been scared off, "Where are you even coming from?"

"Huh" Raven shrugged, getting up and dusting her clothes, "Everyone has secrets."

"My brothers have been showing you hidden pathways, I see" Another voice said, as the girls turned around to see Ron and Harry coming into the common room. 

"... Maybe." Raven grinned, proud of herself. 

Clarke explained again to the boys and Raven everything that had happened while she was in Beauxbatons. In return, they told Clarke about the current mood that was reigning at the school. Harry told her about another discussion he hard overheard, between Snape and Quirrell, when he was coming out of the library one day. Explaining to Clarke how he had heard something sounding like Quirrell was being threatened by none other than Snape. The rest of them then told Clarke about how they thought that Snape had made Quirrell tell him about how to break the anti-dark force spell Quirrell had set to protect the philosopher's stone, and how Snape must had found a way to get past Fluffy. 

They also had thought about going to Dumbledore with this, but without having any proofs, they couldn't take the risks to raise Snape's suspicions and had dropped the matter, not wanting to lose any more points to either of their houses, having meddled with things way too much already. Although Raven and Ron were rather in favor of doing a little poking around… 

* * *

Next morning, notes were delivered to Neville, Harry, Hermione, Clarke, Octavia and Raven at the breakfast table. All of them were sporting the same message : 

"Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr Flich in the Entrance Hall. Prof. McGonagall". 

Clarke had kind of forgotten about the detention, and it seemed like the rest of the group had forgotten too. Half-expecting the rest of the group to complain, no one said a word about it, probably feeling, like Clarke, that they kind of deserved it. 

The day went by in a blur, and at eleven o'clock, they said goodbye to Ron and headed to the entrance hall, where Mr Filch, Malfoy and Lexa were already there. Clarke had also forgotten about Lexa being punished with them, and now didn't look forward to spend the evening with someone that had lied to her. 

"Follow me" Mr Filch said, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you?" He leered at them. "Yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me… It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out… Hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep them well oiled incase they're eve needed… Right, off you go" He winced, "And don't think of running off now, it'll be worse if you do."

"I wonder if he has a brain" Octavia whispered to her friends, as Clarke was letting out a quiet chuckle. She then remembered something Lexa had said once, about Filch being a Squib, a muggle born from wizards parents. Maybe that was why he was so horrible to wizards students, because he had never been able to one himself. 

"I kind of like him" Raven shrugged, as Octavia was gasping. 

"You must be joking." 

They walked down the dusty paths outside, under a moon so bright it was almost as daylight, but with clouds scudding across it which kept throwing them in the dark from time to time. 

"I wonder what kind of terrible punishment we'll suffer" Harry whispered to Clarke, "Because Filch is way too happy about what's going to happen."

Clarke could only nod at that. Ahead, the faint lights of Hagrid's hut could be seen, and Clarke wondered why on Earth they would do their punishment in Hagrid's hut, as her heart was rising up at the same time; if they were with Hagrid, then it couldn't be that bad, right? 

"Don't be too happy about it" Filch then said, probably having noticed their hopeful faces, "It's into the Forest you're going, and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

At this, Neville let a tiny sob escape his chest, as Draco Malfoy was stopping dead in his tracks. "The _Forest_?" He repeated, "We can't go in there at night! There's all sorts of things in there. Werewolves, I heard. "

"Stop it" Hagrid's voice cut him off as Neville had his entire body shaking, as Hagrid then turned himself towards Filch. "You've been lecturing them, haven't you? Is that why you're late?"

"I wouldn't be too friendly with them" Filch coldly said. "I will be back at dawn. For what's left of them" He added nastily, turning away and starting back towards the castle. 

"I am _not_ going into that Forest" Malfoy said. 

"You are if you want to stay in Hogwarts" Hagrid only said, winking at Harry. 

"This is servant stuff. I thought we were going to write lines or something" Malfoy continued. "If my father knew about this, he would…"

"If you think your father would rather you were expelled, then get back to the castle and pack" Hagrid cut him off, waiting for Malfoy to make a move. "Right then" He said as Malfoy just furiously looked at Hagrid, then lowering his gaze, "Now listen, because it is dangerous where we are going tonight."

He gestured for them to follow him down the path leading to the Forest while he was explaining what they were going to do tonight. 

"See this?" He pointed to a silvery liquid on the floor. "Does anyone knows what it is?"

No one answered at first, because no one had seen something like that before. But then, Raven spoke up. 

"It's unicorn blood" The Ravenclaw girl told them. 

"Exactly" Hagrid smiled at her, looking proud. 

As everyone else was raising eyebrows at Raven, the girl only shrugged. "I like magical creatures."

"There's a unicorn that is badly injured in there by something. This is the second time this week" Hagrid told them in a sigh, "I found one dead last Wednesday. We're going to try and find the poor thing, to put it out of its misery."

"And what if the thing that injured it finds us first?" Malfoy asked in very annoying voice. Clarke felt like she was ready to punch him at any moment; and if the look on Harry's face gave anything, he was ready to do the exact same. 

"There's nothing in this Forest if you're with me or Fang" Hagrid reassured him, pointing to his big dog. "or if Aska is there, too. Keep to the path, and you'll be fine. Alright, so we'll split in four teams."

"I want Fang" Malfoy immediately said, making the big man chuckle. 

"As you want, but he's a coward." Hagrid told him. "So Raven, Octavia and Hermione, you three go together. Neville with Draco and Fang" Hagrid put the teams together. "And Lexa, Harry and Clarke with me. All good?"

They all nodded, except Clarke was not too happy to be put out with Lexa. 

"Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, alright?" Hagrid told them, "Practice, now."

They all got their wands out, practicing sending sparks into the air for a couple of minutes. 

"Good, so if anyone's in trouble, you send red sparks and we'll come for you. Let's go."

The Forest was black and silent as the groups starting walking through it. A few minutes later, they reached a fork, and separated themselves from each other. They walked in silence, trying to distinguish something into the dark night surrounding them. 

" _Could_ a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry then asked. 

"Not fast enough" Hagrid denied. "It's not easy to catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one to be hurt before."

As they were walking, they could see spots of unicorn blood here and there, along the winding path. Suddenly, Hagrid seized them, hoisted them off the path behind a tree, pulling out an arrow and fitting it into his crossbow, ready to fire. Next to Clarke, Aska started to growl, and Clarke to shush him so they wouldn't get caught by whatever was out there. 

A few feet away from them, something was floating over the ground, like some kind of ghost, sounding like a cloak trailing along the ground. 

"I knew it" Hagrid murmured after some time when the noise had disappeared, "There's something in there that shouldn't be."

"Like what?" Harry asked. 

"I don't know" Hagrid hummed. "Follow me."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, something moved, a few feet from there. 

"Who's here?" Hagrid called with his big voice, "Show yourself!" 

Into the clearing came what looked like half-an man, half-a horse. A centaur, Clarke recognized the creature from one of their books. 

"Hi Ronan" Hagrid said, lowering his crossbow, moving forwards and shaking the centaur's hand. 

"Good evening to you, Hagrid" Ronan said. 

"This is Clarke, Lexa and Harry, by the way" Hagrid introduced them. Students up the school. And this is Ronan, you three. He's a centaur."

The three of them nodded, because that was kind of obvious. 

"How are you, students?" The centaur asked them, "Do you learn much, at the school?"

"Well.."

"A bit" Harry shrugged. 

"Well that's still something" Ronan sighed, then stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Yeah" Said Hagrid, glancing up too. "Look Ronan, there's a unicorn being hurt in the woods. You've seen anything?"

Ronan didn't immediately answered. He started at the moon again, then sighed. "Always the innocent die first" He murmured. 

"Yeah, but have you seen anything unusual?" Hagrid asked again. 

Clarke frowned, throwing a look to Lexa and Harry, who didn't look like they had answers to explain the centaur's behavior.

"Mars is bright tonight" Ronan only repeated. "Unusually bright."

"Yes we know that" Hagrid said, starting to become impatient, "So you haven't noticed anything strange?"

Again, Ronan took a while to answer. "The Forest hides many secrets." He finally said as Hagrid was letting out a huff. 

A movement behind the tree made Hagrid raise his crossbow again, but it was only just a second centaur, wilder-looking than Ronan, perhaps older. 

"Bane" Hagrid greeted him, "All good?"

The second centaur nodded, his eyes trailing on the kids, then focusing on the moon. 

"Look, I've just been asking Ronan" Hagrid said, "Did you notice something unusual during the past few days? There's a unicorn injured somewhere."

Bane walked over, settling next to Ronan, his eyes up in the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"So we've heard" Clarke mumbled under her breath, as Hagrid was huffing again. 

"And who's with you, Hagrid?" The older centaur asked, nodding towards Hermione, Lexa and Clarke. 

"Students from Hogwarts" Hagrid introduced them. "Lexa, Hermione and Clarke."

"Clarke..." The centaur narrowed his eyes at the Blonde, as though he was trying to read her. 

"Clarke Griffin. Sir" Clarke gulped under the centaur's eyes. 

"Oh" Bane's eyes widened in some kind of recognition, "Of course" He said, slightly bending over, as if he was bowing to her. But it couldn't be, right? Why would a centaur bow to Clarke, of all people? 

He didn't say anything else, so Hagrid took it as their cue to leave, as Clarke and Bane were left staring at each other, the first one trying to figure why the second was acting like this. 

"Alright, we'll get going then. Until next time" Hagrid said goodbye to the centaurs, gesturing for the kids to follow him. 

They walked for a bit, all of them regularly checking over their shoulders as they all had the weird sensation of being watched. 

Suddenly, Hermione pointed to the sky. "Hagrid! Red sparks! The others are in trouble!"

"You wait here!" Hagrid shouted to them, starting to run away, "I'll come back for you!"

The minutes dragged by, as they were focusing on trying to hear every sound that could gave them any indication of what could had happened to the others. 

"I hope Raven and Octavia are ok" Clarke whispered. 

"I'm sure of it" Lexa offered, "Raven knows her fair share about magical creatures so…"

But Lexa was cut off. 

"Thank you Lexa, but I don't need you to tell me about _my_ friends" Clarke retorqued at her, still angry at the girl for what had happened back at Beauxbatons. 

Lexa nodded, understanding that Clarke wasn't ready to forgive her yet. 

Then, Hagrid was coming onto the path again, grumbling about Malfoy being an idiot. "This one thought funny to sneak up behind Neville and grab him. Neville got scared, and sent out the sparks."

"So we're changing groups" Hagrid announced, "Harry and Clarke, you go with this idiot" he pointed to Malfoy, "Neville and Lexa go with me."

Lexa almost wanted to protest, but Hagrid made them move quickly, so each group separated again. 

* * *

Clarke, Malfoy and Harry were on their own again, walking on edge and ears wide open for any sounds that might give up the unicorn's location - or its attacker. 

The path was getting hard to follow as the trees were growing more and more thicker. Then, Harry stopped them, pointing to something in front of them. A glowing figure was laying on the ground, unmoving. 

"I think it's the unicorn" Clarke whispered to the boys. Harry noted; it was both beautiful and sad, in a way that they couldn't explain with words but that they felt deep inside their chests. 

Suddenly, something moved a few feet away from the unicorn, and bushes started to slightly quiver… A hooded thing came out, floating just above the ground, reaching the creature. Then, it started drinking the blood out of the unicorn's wound.

Malfoy screamed and took off, as the cloaked figure suddenly turned around towards the noise, Clarke and Harry freezing on spot. Then, it slowly starting to come towards them, as Harry felt to the floor, groaning.

"Harry, get up!" Clarke urged him as Aska was putting himself in front of them, growling at the thing that was floating towards them, "What's wrong?"

"Ah... My head…" Harry moaned, half-blind by the pain his scar was causing him.

"Come on Harry" Clarke stressed out, trying to put him back on his feet so they could escape the thing coming for them.

But Harry, on his knees, couldn't move as the pain was the only thing he could think about. Suddenly, something came jumping over their heads, charging at the floating figure and make it go away.

Focusing on what - or who - and saved them, Clarke saw that it was yet another centaur; not Bane, not Ronan, but one that seemed younger, with blond hair a bit like Clarke's. On the floor, it took Harry a full minute to get passed the pain on his forehead as Clarke was anxiously watching him.

"Are you alright?" The centaur asked, giving a hand to Harry to help him up.

"I'm ok" Harry answered. "What was _that_ ?"

The centaur didn't answer straight away - they never did. Instead, he looked carefully back and forth between the two of them, his eyes lingering on Harry's scar and then, Clarke's ruby necklace, which had gotten out of her sweater. 

"You are the Potter boy" He said instead, then looking at Clarke. "And you're Jake's daughter. You had better get back to Hagrid, the Forest is not safe at this time - especially for both of you. Can you ride?"

He lowered his front legs so they could climb on. "I'm Firenze, by the way."

But then, more galloping could be heard and soon enough Ronan and Bane were coming through the trees. 

"Firenze! What are you doing, having humans on your backs?" Bane thundered, visibly not too happy about it. 

"Do you realize who this is? The quicker they are out of here, the better" Firenze stood his ground. 

"We are not to interfere with the heavens" Bane scolded him, "Have you not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze protested, "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this Forest, Bane" Firenze let out, with a tone that was not up to discussion, "The Griffin girl has Aksa with her, if the planets are not proof enough. I'll deal with humans if I must, yes."

And the centaur turned around, both Clarke and Harry clutching to him as best as they could so they wouldn't fall off his back, as he was wildly running through the trees. 

"Why is Bane so angry?" Harry asked. 

Firenze slowed down so they would hear him talk. 

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" 

"No" It was Clarke that answered, "We only use tail-hair in potions."

Harry shook his head no, too, because like Clarke, he had absolutely no clue; maybe if Hermione or Raven had been with them… 

"It is because it is a monstrous thing, to kill a unicorn" Firenze said. "Only one that has nothing to lose would commit such a crime. The blood will keep you alive, even if you are an inch to death, but the cost… The cost is terrible." 

Firenze didn't talk for a couple of minutes, and the kids thought he was done talking to them - after all, he had been quite talkative already, for a centaur… 

"You slay something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have saved your life, but it will be a cursed one from the moment the blood touches your lips." Firenze told them after a while, his eyes lingering on the moon. 

"Who would do such a thing, then?" Harry wondered at loud, throwing a glance at the Blonde to see if she had theories - which she didn't. "If you're going to be cursed, then death's better, isn't it?"

"It is" Firenze agreed, "Because you are a good person, Harry Potter. But if drinking unicorn's blood is all you need to stay alive and drink something else to restore your power completely, then…"

"Like what?" Clarke asked, who couldn't find anything else to think about that had such power. 

"Do you know what is in Hogwarts right now?" The centaur asked the Blonde. 

Clarke frowned, but then her eyes widened. "The philosopher's stone!" Clarke said, "The Elixir of Life… But who would…" Clarke trailed off. 

"Can't you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, awaiting their chance?" Firenze told them. 

On his back, Clarke felt Harry freeze. 

"What?" Clarke whispered to him, "What is it?"

"Some say he died…" Harry murmured to himself. "Hagrid said he didn't know if he had enough human left in him to die…"

"What?" Clarke frowned as Harry wasn't making any sense. 

"Think, Jake's daughter" Firenze said. "Have you never heard of someone who was gone, but without anyone succeeding in proving it?"

And it dawned on Clarke. _Voldemort._

"Do you mean, Vol..." Harry croaked, but was interrupted by shouts of their friends, whom they had finally found again. 

Firenze leaned back so they could get down as the others were rushing towards them. "You are safe now" The centaur told them. "Until we meet again". 

And the centaur had taken off, disappearing into the dark Forest. 

"Harry! Clarke! Are you ok?" Hermione asked, frantically scanning their bodies for potential injuries. 

"We're fine, Hermione" Harry nodded, then pointed to the clearing. "Hagrid, the unicorn's dead, this way."

Hagrid hurried to go check that out as Octavia and Raven rushed to the Blonde, hugging her. 

"We were scared" Octavia whispered in her ear, "But Lexa… Lexa looked terrified. She tried to hide it, but it was obvious". Raven nodded in agreement, her too having noticed the Brunette's distress at Clarke's disappearance. 

Parting from the hug, Clarke threw a discreet glance at the Brunette, to find out that Lexa had her eyes on her, and, not very different from Hermione, she was discreetly scanning the Blonde's body as if she was trying to make sure she was alright; which was odd, right? Because, why would Lexa care? But somewhere in the back on her head, a little voice, not blind by the anger Clarke currently had towards Lexa, was telling her she would have been worried all the same, if the roles had been reversed. But Clarke wasn't in the correct mindset to hear this voice yet. 

"Alright, come on, all of you" Hagrid then said, returning from the unicorn's dead body with a somber look on his face. "Time to go back to Hogwarts."

They didn't waste time, and hurriedly started walking towards the castle, all a bit shivering after this night's events. All the way to their dorm, Clarke had only one thought running in her head; the centaurs seemed to know who they were, with Harry. It wasn't that surprising concerning Harry, but regarding herself… Jake's daughter, Firenze the centaur had called her in many occasions. How could he have known her father's name, less alone know who _she_ was ? 

Well, that thought, and the fact that Voldemort was alive - or something alike - somewhere. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this chapter, as I had posted it by mistake instead of saving it as a draft, so it was incomplete aha - Well done, me.


	18. Getting Ready For Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa are two idiots. Harry and Clarke links everything together. Music to put a three-headed dog to sleep? Once again, Hagrid's not good with keeping his mouth shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've edited last chapter, because I accidentally put the chapter online instead of saving it as a draft so it wasn't finished when the firsts of you all read it ahah - Well done, me.  
> So if you read the early version of last chapter - chapter 17 -, I advice you go back and read the full version before reading this one. :) 
> 
> P.S : when a writer updates a chapter, do you get a notification to tell you it's been updated?

** Chapter 18 : Getting ready for action**

Exhausted, they heavily fell into Gryffindor's common room's couches, drained for their nights. Ron, who had fallen asleep while they were gone, was now completely awake, impatiently waiting for them to tell him all about their night - although he had a feeling it had not been quite a good time, jugding by the looks on their faces. 

Eyelids heavy with sleep, Clarke was sandwiched between Octavia and Raven - who had, once again, found a way to be in another tower than her own - and was still a bit shaken by what they had just been through. In front of them, Harry was pacing into the room as he was telling Ron and the rest of them what had happened, and their suspicions about Voldemort being involved in all this. 

"And all this time we thought Snape just wanted to be rich…" Harry rambled, "Firenze saved us, but he shouldn't have, and they were talking about things written in the planets… Maybe they show that Voldemort must kill me…"

"Stop it" Clarke said, "Voldemort will _not_ kill you."

"Stop saying the name!" Ron hissed, half-scared of the consequences. 

"I guess we just wait for Snape to steal the stone… Then Voldemort can finish him off…"

"Harry, Clarke is right" Hermione sighed, pulling on his sleeve so he would sit down and stop pacing, "No one will kill you. Besides, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one you-know-who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, he won't touch you."

"And who says the centaur are right anyways?" Octavia wondered at loud, "It sounds like fortune-telling to me". 

"Professor McGonagall did say it is a very imprecise branch of magic" Hermione agreed. 

"But centaurs are very intelligent creatures, I would trust their words" Raven then shrugged as she was getting dark looks from Clarke and Octavia. 

"Not helping, Rae" Clarke scolded her as Raven was lifting her hands, looking innocent. 

"I'm sorry, I won't lie about it" Raven said, "But the planets have been wrong before. Maybe they're wrong now, too."

Clarke frowned, because how could Raven know that? But then again, she didn't have time to think more about it as the conversation had started again. 

"And you said the centaur seemed to know who you were?" Ron asked Harry. 

"Yes" Harry nodded, "But I guess it is not a surprise, everyone seems to know about me and my scar" Harry shrugged, "But he knew about Clarke, too. And Aska."

"About Aska.." Hermione said, but not loud enough as Clarke didn't heard her and cut her off without meaning to. But it didn't go unnoticed by Raven, who narrowed her eyes at Hermione, wondering about what she could have discovered on Clarke's dog. 

"He called me _Jake's daughter_." Clarke said. "Jake's my father's name, but as far as I know, my father is a muggle, he couldn't have come to Hogwarts and meet Firenze". 

"You did say you had witches distant cousins" Hermione gently told her, "Could it be possible that your father was a wizard and went to Hogwarts when he was a kid, without you knowing it?"

"I don't know" Clarke helplessly said, beginning to grow tired of all the questions and secrets that seemed to surround her, "I mean, after discovering about the Vinys… Everything's possible. But how do you keep something like that from your own child?"

"I know you have a lot of questions, C" Octavia squeezed her shoulder, "But maybe you'll have to have a heart-to-heart conversation with your mother about it."

Clarke sighed, knowing she was right. Summer holidays weren't too far now, they had exams next week, and they would all go home soon enough for Clarke to confront her mother about all this. 

"Let's all get to bed, alright?" Hermione suggested as they were all yawning at this point. 

Finding that it was a good idea, all of them went to their bed - Raven stayed with them in the Gryffindor Tower, making herself comfortable in Clarke's bed, big enough for both of them. Clarke had chuckled, but in the end, she was glad that her friend would be beside her. Briefly wondering how it could be that Raven could stay here in Gryffindor Tower and not found missing from her own, Clarke quickly drifted to a dreamless sleep. 

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed by in a blur. Day after day, they took their exams in the day, staying late in the night to get last-minute revision into their heads, when all of them half-expected Voldemort to burst through the doors and cause chaos at any moment. But the days were succeeding each other, and as they were daily checking the third floor, there was no doubts that Fluffy was still here and guarding the trap door.

In addition to Hogwarts' exams, Clarke had to pass Beauxbatons' exams for abroad students too. Thankfully, they were not too complicated and were exactly about what she had studied over there, so not much added revision was needed. A couple of classes had almost the same tests, so she didn't have to pass them twice - which saved her some time and energy. 

The only problem was that for a couple of her Beauxbatons' tests, it was a binomial work to return; in short, she had to go see Lexa and work with the girl on their application. Lexa, whom she was still angry at and was not looking forwards to talk to again. 

Sighing and waving goodbye at her friends who were studying in Gryffindor's common room, Clarke headed for the library, hoping that Lexa would be there. They had received their test's subject a week ago now, and it was due in three days, so Clarke was wondering why Lexa hadn't come to see her about it. But then again, Clarke knew that it was probably her own fault that Lexa was waiting for _her_ to come first. 

Sighing in relief when Clarke spotted the Brunette her head in a book, next to Anya, in the library, Clarke walked over to their table. 

"Hi, Lexa" Clarke greeted her, then nodded at Anya when the older Woods put her eyes on her. 

Anya raised a brow at her, almost as if she was daring Clarke to speak up; the blonde figured out that Lexa must have told Anya about their fall off, and while she was still angry at the Brunette, Clarke couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about her behavior with Lexa those past couple of weeks. 

"I'm here to work on the potions' paper, if you're up to it" Clarke finally said to Lexa, who only gestured for Clarke to sit in front of her. 

Anya got up, taking it as her clue to leave them alone, and after taking a few steps away from them, turned around towards the Blonde. "Oh, Clarke, I got an owl from your cousin."

Clarke raised her eyebrows at her, because why would Anya get a letter from Diana?

"She said not to be a jerk to Lexa."

And Anya left them, Clarke with her cheeks having slightly redden, and Lexa suddenly very interested in the book in front of her. Shaking her head, Clarke sat down.

"Why would Anya talk to my cousin?" Clarke asked.

"They were friends" Lexa explained, "They went to pre-school together. Before Anya got admitted to Hogwarts."

Clarke nodded, accepting the explanation. Sighing, she opened her book and the instructions about the paper they had to write together. They started working on it, although Clarke could see that Lexa was always discreetly watching from the corner of her eyes, probably trying to gauge if the blonde was still angry at her. 

After an hour of work, they were done, and Clarke was quite satisfied about what they had done. 

Figuring that it was now or never, Clarke put everything back in her bag, pausing and waiting for Lexa to raise her head. Which didn't take too long, as Lexa looked at Clarke a couple of seconds later, expectedly waiting. 

"Look, Lexa, I..." Clarke ran a hand through her hair, "I'm sorry for snapping at you, the other day. I'm just… I'm just confused about all this. I took it out on you, and I shouldn't have."

"It's ok" Lexa said, but her voice was so low Clarke knew it was _not_ ok, but she was grateful for the lie. "I did hid things from you."

"You did" Clarke hummed. "But you were right; it was not for you to tell me. Although I would have rather you didn't hide anything from me, you're not the one who's been lying to me since I've been born. On the contrary, you kind of helped me to open my eyes, so..."

Lexa quietly chuckled. "So.. We're good?" 

"We're good" Clarke nodded, surprising herself when a smile grew on her face without wanting it too. 

"Okay. Cool" Lexa sighed, visibly relieved as she had a hopeful expression on her face. 

"Cool" Clarke repeated, feeling like a weight had just been lifted out of her chest. Which was kind of overwhelming, because she couldn't explain it. "Alright, hum, I have to go back to the others, so, hum... I'll see you later?" Clarke told the Brunette, getting up. 

"Yeah, see you later" Lexa answered, another timid smile breaking through her lips. Clarke smiled back, and she was off to meet with her friends. 

Once Clarke was gone, Lexa sighed. She was so screwed. Anya was making her way back, probably having noticed that the Blonde had left. 

"So?" Anya asked her, sitting down by her side. 

"So, nothing. She's not angry at me anymore. I think" Lexa told her. 

"That's a start" Anya shrugged. "Although she shouldn't have been angry at all in the first place."

"I did lie to her" Lexa shrugged. "I knew about the Vinys, and still I didn't tell her, letting her figure things out by herself. I understand that she could have felt like she was played."

"There's a reason why she didn't know, Lexa" Anya reminded her. 

"Yes, but if I recall correctly _you_ were the one to tell me she had a right to know" Lexa raised a brow at her cousin, unimpressed. 

"Maybe" Anya shrugged. "But still. It wasn't your place to say. She should be mad at her cousins instead. And her parents."

"She probably is" the younger Woods guessed. "She just took it out on me because I was there."

Anya hummed, not really convinced. 

"What was that about anyways, you received an owl from Diana?" Lexa then asked her cousin, remembering about what Anya had said earlier. 

"She wrote to me. Telling me Clarke knew" Anya only said. 

Lexa narrowed her eyes at her cousin, knowing that there surely was more to the story that what Anya was letting on. She decided not to question it further, as they all had their roles to play and that she trusted Anya to tell her if it was important. 

"I am glad she knows" Lexa finally said. "She'll have people. To protect her."

"You know, Clarke is not defenseless" Anya gently offered to her cousin. "She's smart. And resourceful. And she has a lot of people loving her, surrounding her, even without her family."

"I know that" Lexa sighed, "But... She's in so much danger…" 

"And so are you" Anya remarqued. "But you'll both be fine."

Lexa hummed, not really convinced about her cousin's words. 

* * *

Their last exam was History of magic, which must have been Harry's least favorite class of all. Clarke kinda liked it, and Hermione too, as she got out of the test, saying that it hadn't been as hard as she would have thought. 

"I didn't need to learn all about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager" Hermione told them as they were rolling their eyes, not even knowing about what she was talking about. Although Hermione always liked to review their exam papers afterwards, only Raven happily complied as the rest of them were putting her hands on their ears, getting sick of talking about exams. 

As the sun was bright today, and the air getting considerably warm, they headed for the lake, where they flopped under a tree, watching the Weasley twins play with some kind of giant squid in the water. 

"At least we're done with revision" Ron happily sighed. 

The rest of them hummed, as Harry was still wearing a concern frown on his face. 

"Chill dude" Raven told him, getting up to go mess around with Ron's brothers, "Exams are over. What is still bothering you?"

"He's concerned about Vold… You-know-who" Clarke corrected herself, her too sharing Harry's concerns on the matter. 

"Dumbledore's around, the stone is safe" Ron shrugged. "We have no proofs that Snape knows how to get past Fluffy."

"Yeah, your boy Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down" Raven snorted. 

Harry threw a glance at Clarke, who seemed to be the only one sharing his worried thoughts with. They had talked about it together, last night, about how they had this unsettling feeling like they were forgetting something really important. But the others were right. Habrid would never betray Dumbledore. He would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy… Never, but...

"Hagrid" Clarke murmured to Harry, eyes widening. 

"What about Hagrid?" Harry frowned, to then reach the same conclusion as Clarke. "Oh..."

The boy suddenly jumped to his feet. 

"Where're you going?" Ron said. 

"We've got to go see Hagrid, now" Harry told them as Clarke was getting up too. 

The other got up too, following them as they started walking very fast towards Hagrid's hut. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Raven yelled from behind them, running to catch with them, "What's the hurry?"

"Don't you think it's odd, that Hagrid always wanted a dragon, and then suddenly a stranger gives him an egg _that_ easily, when it's against wizard law?" Clarke told them, panting a bit as they were getting up the hill. 

"Lucky they find Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before…!" Harry added. 

"What are you two on about?" Ron said, but neither of them answered. 

Soon enough, they reached Hagrid's hut, where the man was sitting in an armchair outside his house, sipping some tea. 

"Hello" He happily greeted them, "Exams are over then? You want a drink?"

Before any of them could answer, Harry spoke up. "Hagrid, you know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger look like you?"

"I wouldn't know" Hagrid shrugged, "The man wouldn't take his hood off. It's not unusual though, there's a lot of funny folk in Hogsmade."

Harry sat down next to the big man. "What did you talk about? Did you tell him about Hogwarts?"

It might have come up" Hagrid shrugged again, not really seeing the point in those questions, but trying to remember nonetheless. "Yes, he asked me what I was doing… About the creatures I look after… I said I always wanted a dragon, told him after Fluffy it couldn't be hard to take care of one…"

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Clarke asked, trying to keep her voice even. The others gasped, suddenly understanding where Clarke and Harry were going with this. 

"Well yeah, how many three-headed dogs do you meet in the world?" Hagrid answered like it was obvious, "So I told him Fluffy's a piece of cake once you know how to calm him down, just play a little bit of music and he'll go straight to sleep and…"

He stopped talking when all of them looked at him, horrified. 

"I shouldn't have told you that!" Hagrid suddenly said, getting up and dropping his tea mug, "Hey, where are you going?" 

But the group didn't listen, as they were already running back to the castle. 

* * *

"We've got to go to Dumbledore with this" Harry told them, "It was either Snape or Voldemort under the hood. I just hope Dumbledore believes us with this."

"Maybe Firenze will back us, if Bane lets him" Clarke added. 

"What's up?" Octavia joined them, having stayed inside with her brother when the rest of them had headed to the lake. Quickly, they filled her up with what they had just discovered. 

"I agree with going to Dumbledore" Octavia nodded, "But where's his office now?"

They looked around as if there would be big signs somewhere, telling them where to go. No one had ever told them about Dumbledore's office location. 

"We could ask my brothers" Ron said. 

But they didn't have time, as professor McGonagall was upon them, carrying a pile of books. 

"What are you all doing inside?" She asked them, sensing that they were, once again, probably getting themselves in trouble. The Professor was starting to believe that those kids were direct replicas or their parents, following James Potter and his group of friends, always messing around. 

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore" Hermione bravely said. Clarke silently chuckled, thinking that they definitively were a bad influence on her. 

"Why?" The professor only answered. 

"It's a sort of a secret" Harry said, and immediately regretted it when he saw McGonagall's facial expression. 

"He's not here. He received an owl from the minister of magic and left at once."

"He's not here?" Clarke said, horrified. " _Now_ ?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard" McGonagall almost looked offended, "He has many demands…"

"But this is _important_ " Harry insisted. 

"More important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?" She raised a brow at him. 

"Look" Clarke bravely spoke up, "Professor... It's about… The philosopher's stone…" 

Whatever the reaction they were expecting, it was not this one; at once, McGonagall dropped the books she was carrying, but didn't pick them up. 

"But... How do you know…" She spluttered.

"We think… We _know_ that someone's going to try and steal the stone. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

"He will be back tomorrow" The woman said, apparently having regained her spirits as she picked the books up the floor, I don't know how you found out about the stone, but rest assured, it is too well protected."

"But Professor…" Raven started, but was cut off at once. 

"Don't push it, Reyes" Professor McGonagall eyed her, "You are lucky Professor Flitwick doesn't know about your in-and-out of other towers than your own."

Raven had the decency to look down at that. 

"Now, I suggest you all go back outside, drop this matter and enjoy the sunlight."

But they didn't, their minds too full of worry to do anything else than think about it. 

"It's happening tonight" Harry said, "I'm sure of it. Now that Dumbledore's out of the way…"

"Snape's probably the one to have sent that note, to keep Dumbledore away" Clarke agreed. 

"But what can we…" Hermione gasped, interrupting Octavia's sentence in time, as Snape was now standing behind them, as on cue. 

"Good afternoon" Snape smoothly said, although he kind of looked like a predator. "You shouldn't be inside on such a sunny day."

"We were…" Harry began to say, trying to come up with yet another lie to cover what they were doing. 

"You want to be more careful" Snape eyed them, "Hanging around like this, one could believe you are up to something. And Gryffindor cannot afford to lose any more points, cant they?"

They turned over to go back outside, in a hurry to get the hell away from Snape as he was entering the staff room. 

"I do _not_ like him" Raven said, once they were out again. "Your brothers have a plan to get rid of him. Maybe I'll help" Raven told Ron, a malicious smile on her face. 

"Don't, Raven" Clarke sighed at the girl, "No need to get yourself expelled."

"I'm way too smart to be caught, excuse you" Raven scoffed with a false annoyed-look. 

"Right, so one of us needs to keep eyes on Snape" Harry told them, exposing his plan. "Wait outside of the staff room, and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you do that."

"Why _me_ ?" Hermione protested, not good with lying and spying. 

"You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick" Ron shrugged as if it was obvious. "You know, _Oh professor, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong_ …" He put up on a higher voice, as Raven and Octavia were trying really hard not to laugh at his imitation of Hermione. 

"Alright stop it" Hermione shut him off, her cheeks slightly redder than they were a minute ago, but finally agreeing to do it. The rest of them went back into Gryffindor's common room, waiting for Hermione. 

"At least Hermione's watching Snape" Raven sighed, laying down on the couch in some weird position only Raven would find comfortable. 

"How do you come an go out of here anyways?" Octavia then asked her, because there was no way the fat lady would let anyone else than Gryffindor's students in here. 

"A girl has to keep a part of mystery" Raven only grinned at her as Octavia was lightly hitting her on the shoulder. 

Not too long ago, Hermione came back into the common room, a sorry look on her face. "I'm sorry Harry, but Snape came out and ask me what I was doing, so I told him I was waiting for Professor Flitwick, so then he went to fetch him, and I just got away. I don't know where Snape went."

"Well, I guess that's it then" Harry murmured, as all eyes were fixating on him. "I'm going out there tonight, and I'll try to get to the Stone first."

"You're _mad_ " Ron shouted. 

"Yeah, for once I agree" Raven added. 

"You can't!" Hermione protested, "After what professor McGonagall said, you'll be expelled if you're caught!"

"So _what_ ?" Harry exploded, "If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Then it won't matter if I'm expelled, because I'll return to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to come finishing me off there." He glared at them, daring them to stop him. 

"Wait" Raven paused, "The Dursleys? From Little Whinging?"

"Yes, they're my aunt and uncle" Harry frowned, not understanding why Raven would react on this. 

Octavia and Clarke gasped at the new information. "We live in your street! You're their nephew, the quiet one!" Octavia exclaimed, "I never thought about it before!"

"What?" Ron asked. 

"We live in the same street as Harry does" Clarke said with a smile on her face, "We know about his uncle and aunt. We knew they had a nephew, would was never out of the house, so we never saw him - well, you". 

"How small is the world, right?" Raven wondered out loud. 

They fell into silence for a couple of seconds, before all of them remembered what they were talking about in the first place. 

"So, tonight." Harry spoke up again. 

"Alright, Harry" Hermione weakly said, not knowing how to keep him from doing this. 

"I'll use the invisibility cloak. It's just lucky I got it back" Harry told them, remembering how he had forgotten it in the astronomy tower, therefore getting caught and resulting in their punishment in the Forest. 

"How many of us will it cover?" Ron then asked. 

"What?"

"Yeah, at least a couple of us are going with you" Clarke agreed, "How do you think you'll get to the Stone without us?"

"I should go through my books, there might be something helpful…" Hermione wondered at loud, mostly to herself. 

"If we get caught, you'll be expelled too" Harry frowned. 

"Well, no" Hermione told him. "Flitwick said I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

"And I know enough about hidden pathways to hid us for a thousand years" Raven added, crossed her arms on her chest, proud of herself. 

"Wait, that's it" Clarke said, jumping on Raven's words. "Secret passages. If Harry, Ron and Hermione get under the cloak and make sure the exit of the secret passage is free, we can all go."

"I never said I knew about a secret way to the third floor" Raven narrowed her eyes at her friend. 

"And I never said it was to go to the third floor, so you _do_ know one to go up there" Clarke retorqued at her. 

"Alright" Raven finally agreed, sighing. "I'll take us."

"Be ready for tonight." Harry told them. 

They all nodded, each of them trying really hard to set their mind onto something else. 


	19. Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes through the trapdoor. They lose a couple of them along the way. Raven shouldn't make a habit of making things go boom.

** Chapter 19 : Checkmate **

They were all anxiously waiting in Gryffindor's common room, waiting for everyone to go to sleep so they could slip out of the tower and go to the third floor. Harry, Ron and Hermione were to go out under the invisibility cloak, while Clarke and Octavia were waiting for Ravenclaw's students to go to bed so Raven could get out and come fetch them through the hidden pathways she seemed to know. 

In the common room, no one bothered them nor noticed their anxious states; after all, no one had something to tell them, after the loss of points they had caused. Finally, the last student yawned and walked upstairs, heading to his dorm. 

"We better go" Ron muttered as Harry was getting the invisibility cloak out from under the couch, where he had hid it. 

"That's a pretty bad spot to hide something" Octavia raised a brow at him. 

"I didn't want to have to go back to the dorm and risk waking up someone" Harry told her. "I took this, too". He showed them the little flute Hagrid had gifted him for Christmas. 

"Clever" Clarke nodded, "We'll use it to put Fluffy to sleep."

"Alright, time to go" Octavia said, helping them put the cloak on and making sure they couldn't be seen. But then, a voice talked and they froze, not expecting anyone to be up but them. 

"What are you doing?"

They quickly turned around, as Neville was standing on the balcony, in his pyjamas, still half-asleep, but suspicious about what was happening - or what could happen. 

They tried to hide the cloak, but no quick enough, as Neville was staring at their guilty faces. "You're getting out again."

"Nah, we're not" Octavia tried to shrug it off, "Go to bed."

Ron gestured at the clock, making them understand they couldn't afford to lose much time. 

"Do something" Harry whispered to Hermione and Clarke, who had her hand on her wand. 

"I am really really sorry Neville" Hermione then apologized. " _Petrificus totalus!_ "

Stunned, Neville fell backwards, his body going full rigid. On the floor, only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror. 

"I'm sorry Neville" Hermione whispered again, "We don't have time to explain."

"What was _that_ ?" Octavia exclaimed, as Clarke was watching Hermione with impressed eyes. 

"It's the full Body-Bind spell" Clarke told them, impressed with the girl, "I learned it in Beauxbatons. How…?"

"I learned a thing or two, while helping you study" Hermione just shrugged. 

As if on cue, a painting suddenly moved, as Raven's face was emerging through the hole in the wall. 

"You're coming?" Raven asked, then spotted Neville, frozen on the floor, but only raised an eyebrow at her friends without asking any questions. 

"We'll see you on the third floor" Clarke told Hermione as Octavia and herself were getting into the secret passage. "If we're not there when you arrive, don't wait for us. We'll catch up, alright?"

Hermione nodded, and folded back the cloak's hood on their heads, exiting the tower. 

"I still think it's way too dangerous for us to do such a thing" Octavia told them. 

"You're probably right" Clarke sighed, "But we can't let Harry go alone."

Octavia nodded back, agreeing. Silently, Raven closed the secret passage by putting the painting back into place, as they were now in complete dark. 

" _Lumos_ " Clarke then whispered, as the tip of her wand suddenly glowed and projected light like a flashlight. 

"When did you learn that?" Raven asked, impressed. 

"Beauxbatons" Clarke told them, and then quickly taught them how to do it themselves so they could have as much light as possible. 

"Those tunnels are safe, right Raven?" Octavia then questioned, waving her wand around to explore their surroundings, "No one can find us here?"

"I think so" Raven hummed, "The Weasleys twins are pretty sure they are the only ones knowing about them."

"Alright" Clarke breathed, trying to gather some courage. "Lead the way, then."

* * *

When they emerged behind a painting on the third floor, Clarke, Raven and Octavia hastily went for the door, who was already slightly open. 

"Snape or the others?" Octavia whispered as they hid themselves behind a statue, trying to know who had already gone inside. 

"That's them" Clarke then told them after a while, "Listen, that probably is Harry's flute."

Her friends nodded as they followed Clarke instead. Indeed, the trio was already here; Hermione was playing the flute, trying to keep Fluffy asleep as Ron and Harry had just opened the trapdoor. 

"We'll need to jump" Harry whispered to them. "I'll go first."

Then, the boy jumped into nowhere, as the others anxiously waited for him to tell them what was in there. 

"It's ok!" Harry finally called as the others breathed in relief, "You can come down, it's a soft landing!"

Clarke was going to jump, but then looked over at Aska. "I don't think you should come with me on this one, boy" Clarke told him as Aska starting growling a bit at her, visibly not agreeing with her. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what's on the other side. I can't risk it. Stay here, alright?"

Aska barked, then huffed, and turned his back to Clarke as he went to sit outside the door, as if he was guarding it until Clarke would come back. Sad to be parted from him, Clarke took a last glance a her now sulking dog, before jumping through the trapdoor. 

The rest of them then quickly joined as they were falling onto something soft.

"What's this?" Ron asked, touching it, as it looked a bit like some plant. 

"I don't know" Harry said, "Maybe it's to break the landing."

"We're lucky the plant's there, then" Raven told them. 

" _Lucky!?"_ Hermione shrieked, looking at them in horror. 

Looking down, they saw that the plant had starting to twist around them like some snake, without them noticing, as it was quickly moving onto them. They started to fight it off, but without big success, as the plant was already around them and way to strong and heavy for them to lift it. The more they would struggle against it, the more the plant would twist around their bodies. 

"Clarke!" Raven called to her, trying to keep the plant from wrapping itself against her chest, "If Beauxbatons taught you anything at all about this, now would be the perfect time to _do something_ goddamnit!" 

But Clarke was at a loss of words, as she didn't know what this plant was, and couldn't think of anything to get them out of there. Instead, it was Hermione - again - that brought them the answer. 

"Stop struggling!" She suddenly said, a light in her eyes, "I know what this is ! This is the devil's snare!"

"Thank you Hermione!" Raven grunted under the effort of fighting off the plant, "I'm at peace now!"

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione only answered, the wheels in her mind turning at light speed. "What did Professor Sprout said…"

"It likes the dark and the damp, doesn't it?" Clarke managed to say as the plant was trying to choke her. 

"Lit a fire!" Harry told her. 

"There's no wood!" Hermione said, her too beginning to panic. 

"Are you a witch or not?" Ron shouted to her, as Hermione, regaining her thoughts, put her wand out and used the same spell she had used on Snape's cape at the quidditch's match. 

In a matter of seconds, the plant released them, and they quickly freed themselves, hurrying to go away from the plant and through the door by the other side of the room. 

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione" Octavia told her as Ron was rolling her eyes at Hermione for not using her wand right away. 

"This way" Clarke gestured for them, as all of them were in alert mode, looking for clues or anything that could tell them that there was a danger somewhere. 

Then, Harry stopped them, as a light buzzing noise could be heard. 

"What do you think it is?" Ron asked. 

"Some ghosts? Wild creatures?" Raven suggested, although she looked way too happy about it. 

"It sounds more like wings" Harry told them as they started moving again. 

They reached the end of the pathway; Harry had been right. Thousands and thousands of _things_ with wings were flying into a small room, producing the buzzing sound that could be heard. On the other side of the room, there was a heavy and wooden door. 

"Do you think these beasts will attack us if we make a run for it?" Octavia asked them. 

"I don't know" Raven hummed, frowning as she was trying to get a better look at the flying creatures, "But I can't remember of anything looking like that in our _magical creatures_ book."

"On three, be ready to run to the other door, alright?" Harry told them, "One, two… Three!"

Quickly they crossed the room, half-expecting things to come down on them. But nothing. They tried to open the door, but nothing they could do worked, not even Hermione's unlocking spell. 

"What now?" Ron asked. 

Frowning, Clarke looked at the strange birds, and crossed eyes with Hermione. Both were thinking that they couldn't be here for no reasons… And then Clarke spotted it. The glitter, coming from the creatures. 

"They're keys" Clarke told them, "Look! Not birds, but keys with wings!"

"One of them must be the good one to open the door" Harry exclaimed as he, too, finally noticed the form of the flying things. 

"Look, broomsticks!" Raven then told them, "Harry, you're a seeker, you've got to try and catch this door's key!"

Harry nodded, quickly grabbing one of the broomsticks and getting up in the air, turning into the room. 

"How do I know which one it is?" Harry shouted to them from the air, "There are thousands of them!"

"Look for a old and big one!" Hermione answered, looking at the lock. 

Harry was flying into the small room, but couldn't spot the right key. Suddenly, Octavia had an idea. 

"Clarke, you said one of your cousin had trained you with a broom" Octavia turned to her friend, could you go help Harry and keep the keys from flying into groups as Harry looks for the right one?"

"Yeah, that could work" Clarke nodded, quickly getting herself on the broom. Only a few seconds later, Harry finally spotted the right key, as Clarke was keeping the keys from regrouping, making them easier to see. 

"I can see it!" He told his friends, "One of his wings is twisted!" This key was flying slower than the others, probably having been already caught once and roughly stuffed into the keyhole. 

"Clarke, try keep it from all the others!" Harry told her as he was speeding onto it, Clarke clearing a path for him. 

Suddenly, Harry leaned forwards, pinning the key to the wall, having caught it. There was a reason he was the youngest seeker in a century, after all. 

"Yay Harry!" Hermione told him, "You did it!"

Clarke and Harry got to the ground, as the boy quickly put the key into the lock, opening the door as they all entered the new room.

"Good job, both of you" Ron told them, "Clarke you should try next year for Gryffindor. You'll be a great addition to the team."

Clarke nodded, thanking him, and tried to look around the new room she had entered. First, it was so dark that they couldn't see anything, but it only took them one step into it that light suddenly flooded the room, revealing something they couldn't have expected. 

It was a huge chessboard, as they were standing behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than themselves. Facing them, on the other side of the room, there were the white chessman, also way bigger than them and looking like they had been carved right from stone.

"Now, what do we do?" Clarke asked, shivering a bit at what they had eyes on.

"It's obvious" Ron told them, "We play our way to the other side."

"How do we do that?" Raven frowned, noticing the door on the other side of the room, "Can't we walk our way around it?"

"I don't think so" Hermione weakly said, "I think that might be McGonagall's protection spell."

"It's the wizard version" Clarke gasped, remembering about the game she had seen Ron and Harry play on Christmas.

"Yes" Ron gravely nodded. "I think we have to _be_ chessmen." 

"Great" Octavia grumbled. 

They kept quiet for a few minutes, as Ron was looking like he was thinking hard. Finally, he turned towards them. "Don't be offended, but all of you aren't very good at chess so…"

"We're not offended" Clarke cut him off. 

"Just tell us what to do" Harry agreed. 

"Alright, so, let me think…" Ron said almost to himself, "If we have to take the place of back chessmen… Harry, take the place of this bishop…"

He put them all onto the chessboard, as the black chessmen were leaving it. 

"And I'll be a knight" Ron finally said, determined to win and having set his brain on the game. "So, white chessmen always play first" He told them, "Yes, look."

A white pawn moved on the board, putting himself two squares forwards. With a very focused game-face on, Ron started directing the black pieces as the game was set in motion. Each time , the rest of the group did exactly as he was telling them, but they couldn't help but be scared; what if they lost? 

They all gasped when a white chessman took one of their black piece, smashing it to the ground and dragging the pieces of it off the board. 

"We had to let that happen" Ron said, although he looked as shaken as them. "Hermione, you're free to take that bishop now."

Every time black pawns were taken, the white chessmen showed no mercy, and soon enough, a pile of broken white chessmen pieces was forming on the side of the board. A couple of times, Ron noticed just in time that one of them was in danger, and each time saved them with clever moves. 

"We're nearly there" Ron murmured after a while. "Yes, that's it, that's the only way…"

They all frowned at his words, not following. But then, Clarke saw Raven pale. 

"Do it, Ron" Raven told him, "It's ok."

"That's the only way" Ron said to them, a sad smile on his face, figuring out Raven had understood his next move, "Raven and I have got to be taken."

"No!" Harry and Hermione shouted in unisson. 

"That's chess!" Ron snapped, "You've got to make sacrifices. Once they've taken me, Raven you'll move up one square" He told the Ravenclaw girl, "Then, they'll take you. You'll be free to checkmate the king after that, Harry."

"But…" Harry tried to protest. 

"I won't allow it" Clarke said, pleading Raven with her eyes. 

"There's no other options here Clarke" Raven tried to make her friend understand. "We need to do this if we want to stop Snape. It'll be fun, we'll go boom" Raven tried to joke, although none of them laughed. 

"Guys..." Hermione murmured, trying to protest with Ron's call even though she knew deep down that it was the best thing to do. 

"Ready?" Ron asked, his face pale but determined. "Here I go. Don't wait around once Raven and I are done and you've won."

Then, he called his play, the black stoned horse he was sitting on slowly moving onto the board as the white queen pounced. Hard, she struck Ron's pawn and he went crashing onto the floor, as Hermione was screaming, but stayed on her square. 

Bravely, Raven made her move, and the Queen, just as Ron, sent her flying over the board. 

"Raven!" It was now Octavia's turn to scream as she was getting ready to jump after her friend. 

"Don't move!" Clarke ordered her, "It is _not_ over yet!"

Then, trembling, Harry moved three spaces to the left, checkmating the King, exactly like Ron had said. The white King threw his crown at Harry's feet ; beaten. They had won. The remaining chessmen bowed, and got out of the board as Hermione was looking desperatedly at Ron and Raven's inanimated figures, apparently knocked out. 

Clarke rushed them through the door and up to the next pathway. 

"What if they're..." Octavia trailed off, worry on her eyes. 

"They'll be fine" Harry said, although it was clear he was trying to reassure himself. "What now?"

"Well, we've had Sprout's with the devil's snare, Flitwick must have been the flying keys, Mcgonagall with the chess set... It leaves Snape's and Quirrell." Hermione told them. 

They nodded as they reached yet another door, which they pushed open. A horrible smell reached their noses, as their faces scrunched in disgust. 

"What's that?" Octavia frowned, pinching her nose to try to keep the smell out. 

"That's the troll" Harry pointed to the creature lying in front of them, out cold with a big bump on its head, "That must have been Quirrell's protection."

"Yeah well, we should get going" Clarke gestured to another door, not wanting to wait until the troll could wake up and not wishing for a repetition of their fight with a troll back in Halloween. 

Nothing was really scary nor smelly in the next room, as there was only a big table with various glass bottles on them. They got closer, and Hermione read what was written on a scroll. Suddenly, flames busted all around them, effectively trapping them inside the room. 

Checking that the flames weren't coming towards them, Hermione read the written words. 

"This isn't magic" Hermione smiled after reading the paper, "It's _logic_ . It's like a charade, wanting us to find out which bottle gets us through the other side. Seven bottles" Hermione told them, "Ones with poisons, ones with wine, a couple will get us through the fire and back, a couple will get us through the flames and forwards."

"But how do we know which ones to drink?" Octavia then asked, not really good at being logical. 

"Give me a minute" Hermione said, frowning at the bottles as she was trying to figure it out. She read and re-read the paper a couple of times, mumbling to herself as the others were watching her. Finally, Hermione smiled, having solved it. 

"Alright, so those two, the little ones, will get us forwards" Hermione gestured, "And those ones will get us back."

They looked at the bottle, as each of them were doing the match in their heads; each bottle contained hardly a swallow, so only half on them would be able to move forwards. 

"Which ones are the ones to take us back?" Harry then asked. 

"Those two" Hermione told him. 

"Alright, Octavia and Hermione" Clarke told them, handing them the bottles, "You drink that. You go back, you take Raven and Ron and you get out of here."

As Hermione and Octavia were ready to protest, Harry cut them off by speaking up. "Clarke's right. You take the brooms, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy. You go to the owlery, and send Hedwig to Dumbledore. We need him, and we can try to slow down Snape, but we're no match for him."

"And what if _you-know-who_ is with him?" Hermione weakly asked. 

"i was lucky once" Harry shrugged. "I might get lucky again."

None of them believed his words, but nothing else could be done. 

"Alright" Clarke said, watching at Hermione and Octavia, not knowing if they would see each other again, "You two drink first."

"Clarke..." Octavia trailed off, on the verge of tears. 

"I did two scolar years in the time of _one_. I'm the best option to stay with Harry" Clarke gently told her. "Go back to Raven. Make sure she's ok. We will see you all soon."

Looking at each other one last time, Hermione and Octavia drank up. 

"Go now" Harry urged them, "Before it wears off."

"Be careful..."

"Go!" Harry cut Hermione off, as the two girls nodded at them, and then went unarmed through the fire. 

Looking at Clarke, Harry took a deep breath, and then handed her one of the small bottles. 

"Thanks for staying with me" Harry weakly told Clarke. He was feeling braver with the girl by his side; this girl who, too, had some mystery around her that she was trying to solve. 

"We do this together" Clarke answered, looking paler too, but with a determined look as she raised her bottle, ready to drink. 

"One... Two... Three."

They drank up, and shuddered as the drink made them feel like ice was running through their veins. Quickly, then ventured into the fire, expecting it to burn them; instead, they got safely to the other side of the fire, and walked to the door, entering yet another room. 

There was already someone there. But it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort. 

* * *

Lexa was in Slytherin's common room with Anya, almost asleep on her book, when something stirred at the back of her mind, an unpleasant feeling settling in her guts. Frowning, she looked up from her book, now completely awake, looking around to figure out what was happening, and why she was suddenly feeling all weird. 

"Lexa?" Anya had noticed her cousin's behavior, "Is everything ok?"

"I don't know" Lexa murmured, still frowning and unable to shake this feeling out of her, "I just... I feel like..."

Alarmed, Anya quickly put the book she was reading away, now completely focusing on her cousin. "Lexa, talk to me" Anya told her, her too worried, but for something else entirely. "What are you feeling?"

"Like... Like something's wrong..." Lexa struggled to put words on her feeling. 

Then, an owl came flying into the room, dropping a sealed letter onto Anya's lap. Recognizing the speckled creature, Anya quickly opened the letter, her face falling as she was reading the words on it. 

"You feel like someone's in danger" Anya said, closing up the letter and getting up. Lexa looked up at her cousin, frowning; her words hadn't been a question. 

"Anya, what do you know?" Lexa urgently asked, getting up too, now seeing that her older cousin had something on her mind, things she hadn't told Lexa about. 

"It's Diana" Anya somberly stated, showing the letter to Lexa. "Clarke's in trouble."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks, so a couple more chapters and I think we'll be done with year 1 ! ;)


	20. Power of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Harry hold their ground. Dumbledore is a very wise man. Clarke has good people looking after her. Points are being counted. It's summer, and the school year is over.

** Chapter 20 : Power of Love **

Professor Quirrell was standing in front of Harry and Clarke, a vicious smile on his face. He wasn't trembling, nor shaking. He was an other man, entirely, than the teacher they knew of. 

" _Yo_ _u_ " Harry gasped.

"Me" Quirrell calmly said. "I was wondering when I would meet you, Potter. And _you_ , Griffin." He told them. 

"But..." Clarke mumbled, "We thought... Snape..."

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed with a laugh so cold the kids shivered, "Yes, he _does_ seem like the type. So useful to have him swooping with disdain on his face. Next to him, who would have suspected p-p-p-poor professor Quirrell?"

But Harry and Clarke couldn't wrap their heads around it. "Snape tried to _kill_ me!" Harry protested. 

"No, _I_ tried to kill you" Quirrell corrected, "And I would have, if your friend Miss Granger hadn't knocked me over when she set Snape's cape on fire."

"She broke your eye-contact" Clarke gasped, putting the pieces together. "Snape was only trying to protect Harry."

" _What_ ?" Harry frowned. 

"Of course, why do you think he wanted to be referee for your next match?" Quirrell told him, "He wanted to make sure I wouldn't do it again. But with Dumbledore... I wouldn't have tried anyways."

He stopped, seemed to think about something. "But then again, it doesn't matter, really. I'll kill you both tonight."

With a snap on his fingers, ropes were twisting themselves around them, so tight that they could barely breathe. 

"You are both too noisy to be left alive, you know" He started walking around, "Wandering in the corridors on Halloween. You could have seen me looking at what was guarding the stone, for all I knew."

" _You_ let the troll in?" Clarke gasped, although it made now perfect sense, after having seen what had happened at the troll they had crossed by on their way here. 

"Certainly" Quirrell nodded, almost looking prouf of himself. "Unfortunately, when everyone was looking for the troll, Snape, who already suspected me, directly went to the third floor to block me. It's a shame my troll didn't kill you, and it's even more a disappointment that this tree-headed dog didn't manage to bit Snape's leg properly."

"And you, Griffin" Quirrell narrowed his eyes at Clarke, "You are just like your father. Annoyingly determined to find out the truth about everything."

Clarke's heart jumped into her chest at the mention of her father; she saw that Harry was intrigued, too, but neither of them dared to ask questions. Their goal was to slow him down so Dumbledore could be there in time to rescue them; a weak plan, they were now realising, but if they could keep him talking, then maybe they still had a chance to get out of here. 

Then, they saw how Quirrell was looking at a mirror. A flash of recognition went by Harry's eyes, who quickly whispered to Clarke what this mirror was, and how it was working. Clarke remembered Harry telling them about it, after Christmas holidays.

"This mirror is the key to find the stone..." Quirrell murmured to himself, "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this..."

At the mention of Dumbledore, the kids remembered they had to buy some time for the headmaster to come to the rescue. 

"I've seen you and Snape in the Forest" Harry blurted out, trying to divert Quirrell's attention from the mirror. 

"Yes" Quirrell said, walking around the mirror to examine the back of it, "He suspected me all along, tried to see how far I'd got... Tried to frighten me... As though he could, with Voldemort by my side..."

Clarke frowned at the mention of the name, as she could see that Harry was trying to get free of the ropes, without success. 

"I see the stone, I'm presenting it to my master... But where is it?" Quirrell said. 

"Snape hates us" Clarke then said, as Harry was sending her a thankful smile at trying to keep the man talking. 

"Oh yes he does" Quirrell smiled, "He was at Hogwarts with your parents, they loaded each other... But never wanted you dead, though..."

"But Snape threatened you, and you were _sobbing_ " Harry added, trying like Clarke not to react at their parents' mentions. 

"Sometimes I am weak, and my master is strong..." A shadow of fear passed on his face. 

"He was with you?" Clarke gasped. 

"He is with me wherever I go" Quirrell murmured, then cursing under his breath. "I don't understand... Where _is_ the stone?"

The kids' minds were racing, trying to come up with a solution. 

"Harry" Clarke whispered, "If right now, you wished more than anything that you could have the stone in your possession to keep Quirrell from having it, could it work?"

"I might be able to see where it is hidden, yes" Harry whispered back, his eyes lightening up with the idea. "But how can I look into it without him realising it? I can't move."

"If only I could..." Clarke murmured to herself, thinking about what her cousin had explained about forms of magic, then closing her eyes. Snape and Quirrell had done it; magic without a wand, only locking eyes. Focusing as hard as she could, Clarke tried to visualise Harry's ropes slowly releasing him. She could feel it; the power at the top of her fingers, heavy in the air around her, but how to direct it, as she, herself, was bind, and couldn't grab her wand? 

"Clarke" Harry then suddenly whispered, "Whatever it is that you're doing, keep doing it. It's working". 

Clarke opened her eyes, seeing that Harry's ropes were now loose enough for him to dicreetly wiggle out of it. 

_"Use the boy..."_ A hoarse voice suddenly said, freezing them to the bone as they watched Quirrell turn around towards them again.

"Come here, Potter" Quirrell then said, gesturing for Harry to come closer, and Clarke breathed in relief when Quirrell hadn't noticed that Harry was free of his ropes. 

"Stand in front of the mirror" He told Harry, "And tell me what you see."

Clarke anxiously prayed for Harry to lie, not being able to see what he was seeing. 

"I see..." Harry started, "I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor."

Clarke knew he was lying; the first time he had set his eyes on the mirror, he had seen his parents; Harry had just told her. That when she saw it; the bump in Harry's pocket, which wasn't there before. Somehow, he had put his hands on the Ston; they had been right. Dumbledore surely was a genius. 

Unhappy with what Harry had just told him, Quirrell shoved him to the side, putting himself in front of the mirror again. "I wonder if the girl..." He started, "After all, her parents did had a role to play in this...".

But then, the dark and hoarse voice spoke again. _"He lies... He lies..."_

Harry, who was discreetly trying to walk away, froze into spot as Clarke hled her breath. 

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted, "What did you really see?"

 _"Let me talk to him..."_ The voice said again. 

Clarke watched as Harry froze again, holding a hand to his scar, as Quirrell was slowly beginning to unwrap his turban. Clarke wanted to scream, but not a sound got out. Where should have been Quirrell's head, there was a face, a horrible face on the professor's skull. 

_"Harry Potter..."_ The face said with the same voice they had heard before. _"See what I've become..? Once I will have the Stone, I can create a body of my own... Now, why don't you give me the stone in your pocket?"_

Harry then stumbled backwards, trying to get away, as Clarke was grunting under her ropes, trying to set herself free. 

_"Don't be a fool, Potter... I'll get it, one way or another... Better save your own life and join me... or you'll meet your parents' fate..."_

The evil face was now smiling, and it was terrifying; Clarke could feel her blood freeze inside her veins so much she briefly asked herself if she wasn't _indeed_ freezing up from the inside. Finally, Clarke felt the ropes loosen up, and eyes fixated on Quirrell to make sure he didn't see her, she removed herself from the ropes, trying to gauge when she should act. 

_"I always value bravery... Your parents were brave, dying while trying to protect you... Now, give me the Stone..."_ The voice continued to talk as Quirrell was walking his back to Harry so the face could see the boy. 

"NEVER!" Harry shouted, making a dive for the door, but in vain, as Quirrell turned around, ready to jump in. 

"Don't touch him!" Clarke shouted as something suddenly busted out of her body, going straight for Quirrell and knowing him off. 

_"Kill her! Kill her!"_ The voice screamed as Quirrell got back on his feet, sending a spell to Clarke. 

Not having seen it coming, it hit Clarke right on the chest, sending her flying to the other side of the room, grunting when her head hit the wall, knocking her half-inconscious. 

_"Don't play hero, Griffin"_ The voice hissed, _"It didn't work well for your father... You can't do anything against the Slytherins..."_

But then, Quirrell quickly turned around as Harry was trying to get away once again, and this time, he sprang towards the boy, as Clarke, barely awake, could see Quirrell grab Harry by the wrist. She heard the piercing scream of her friend. She saw Quirrell's blistering hands as the voice was screaming at him to finish them off. She saw Harry seize the man, holding him for dear life. She saw Harry falling to the floor, scrunching in pain. 

Then, she felt fesh wind on her face, and all around her body. She saw figures, into the room, above Harry. Above herself. She saw a ray of golden light, warm and _safe_ , as she felt a tingling sensation on her chest. She saw green eyes... And then, it was dark. 

* * *

Clarke slowly woke up, groaning as all her body seemed to hurt. Something was licking her fingers, and Clarke smiled. Aska. 

"Slow down" A gentle voice chuckle not far from her as Clarke had tried to sit down. 

Clarke frowned, having heard that voice before. Struggling against her bodoy which didn't seem to want to obey her, Clarke opened her eyes and looked around; she seemed to be in the infirmary. Diana, her cousin, was sitting on a chair that didn't look comfortable at all, next to her bed, a slight relieved grin on her face.Clarke

"Diana..?" Clarke murmured, finding that it was hard for her to speak for some reasons. 

"Yes Clarke" Diana gently smiled at her.

Frowning again, Clarke looked down as something on her chest felt warm; her necklace, glowing under her shirt, her skin tingling under it. Putting the pieces together, Clarke spoke up. 

"It was you, that came to save me" Clarke said, not really a question, then suddenly her eyes widened as she remembered why she had needed saving in the first place. "Harry!" Clarke quickly said, frantically looking around, "Quirrell wanted the stone, and..."

" _Calm down_ , Clarke" Diana cut her off, getting up and sitting on the bed next to Clarke. "Dumbledore got to Harry in time. He's fine". 

"You came, too" Clarke said again, playing with the necklace on her neck, "I felt it."

"Yes" Diana told her almost tiredly, quickly looking at the pale rose light her own necklace was making, "I knew you were in trouble, so I came."

That's only when Clarke noticed the dark patches under her eyes and the tiredness written all over her cousin's face, reminding the Blonde that although Diana was five years older than herself, she was still just a teenager, dealing with things way too hard for someone not even eighteen. Clarke then wondered how long she had slept for, and if Diana had stayed by her side all the way through her unconscious time.

"How? How did you know?" Clarke then asked.

"We are _Griffins_ , Clarke" Diana only answered as if it had been obvious. "We feel things like that."

Clarke let it go, because her brain was still too foggy to think about it, but she put the information somewhere in her mind, so she could question her cousin another time. 

"Diana, in the room back there, I threw something at Quirrell, but without actually _throwing_ something at him, rather like something got out of my body and knocked him over" Clarke then told her cousin, hoping that her cousin could understand what she was talking about, "Could it be extra-corporal magic, like you?"

"It could be, yes" Diana shrugged. "But you're still very young to learn about it."

Clarke nodded, although she had seen a light shine up her cousin's eyes for half-a-second before Diana hid it; but not fast enough for Clarke not to notice. Then, the Blonde looked around, and her cousin knew what she was thinking of. 

"You've been here for three days. Your friends came to see you every day" Diana gently told her. "Harry just got out of the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey said it was ok for you to go out too, if you were to wake up."

"And they are ok, right?" Clarke asked again, seeing the cautious look on her cousin's face. 

"They're _alive_ " Diana only answered. 

Clarke frowned; something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Clarke..."

"Tell me."

"The one you call Raven" Diana slowly started, "Got injured when you crossed the chessboard. Even with magic, she'll never use her left leg like before. I am sorry."

Horrified, Clarke fell down onto her mattress, tears forming in her eyes. It was her fault, that Raven had gotten into this situation in the first place. If Clarke hadn't insisted that Raven led them through the tunnels to they could go with Harry, Ron and Hermione, she would still be safe in Ravenclaw's Tower, uninjured. 

"Don't beat yourself up for this, Clarke" Diana took Clarke's hand in hers, "I've seen her, Raven is ok. They made her a brace, which helps her move around. She's already out of the infirmary."

But still, Diana's words didn't bring much comfort to the Blonde. 

"The feast will start in a couple of hours" Diana then told her. "For the Houses Cup. Do you want to go?"

Clarke nodded, although her mood was still down after what her cousin had told her. But then, she remembered something Quirrell - or _Voldemort_ \- had said. 

"My father… My father went to Hogwarts?" Clarke asked, now remembering every word that were exchanged three days ago. 

"I am not sure, I barely remember him" Diana truthfully told her. "But I believe so, yes."

"You've met my dad?" Clarke almost choked, trying very hard not to let tears fall down her cheeks.

"I did" Diana offered her a tiny smile, "When I was little. I remember him playing soccer with Nathalia and I. You were only just a baby, I think."

Clarke stayed quiet for a while, trying to wrap her head around it. Her parents knew about her cousins, because Diana had just told her they used to see each other before her father's death. Clarke was trying to picture it, her dad, playing soccer with Nathalia and Diana, both only a few years old, probably running after her father while he was grinning at them. Diana seemed to understand what was happening in Clarke's hand, because she gently covered her cousin's had with her own, lightly squeezing to bring a bit of comfort to the younger Blonde. Clarke then frowned; her parents - at least her father - had been wizards. But if they had been, then why the lies about Clarke's true nature? Why keep everything hidden?

"And my mother?" Clarke then questioned. "Is she a witch? She went to Hogwarts, too?"

"That is not for me to say" Diana only told her. 

Clarke didn't speak again for a couple of seconds. "Would you have told me?"

Diana raised a questioning look at her cousin, not quite understanding what she meant. 

"If I had not noticed our glowing necklaces" Clarke clarified, "Would you have ever told me about who you were?"

"Eventually, yes" Diana offered her, trying to be as honest as she could be. "But not _that_ soon. We would have waited for you to be older."

"But _why_ ?" Clarke begged her cousin to explain, to give her any reasons that could justify the hiding of a whole family from Clarke, anything to make it ok for them to have lied to her for her entire life.

"That is not for me to say, either" Diana gently answered, getting closer to Clarke as she noticed that her cousin was growing upset. "And franckly, I don't know how much as you think I do. But you do know who to ask for answers."

Clarke sadly nodded. She did not look forwards to that talk with her mother. Diana then looked over to Clarke's dog, who had jumped on the bed and settled on Clarke's feet at the second she had been awake. 

"You know, it was Aska that first protected you, in that room" Diana quietly told her. "When we arrived, he was already upon you, shielding you from danger." 

Clarke sensed that her cousin wasn't telling everything about that story, but she let it go, too tired to fight another battle for truth. "I had ordered him to stay outside the trapdoor and not follow me" The Blonde told her cousin. 

"Well, he didn't really listen" Diana chuckled. "But it's a good thing. He protected you until we could reach you." Then, Diana grew serious again, looking at Clarke with grave and concerned eyes. "Never order him to leave your side again, alright Clarke? it will kill him, and it will get _you_ killed, too. You're stronger together" Diana finally said. 

Clarke frowned at her cousin's words, but nodded in agreement either way; again feeling too tired to dig up. 

"Nathalia and Jade were sad they couldn't come" Diana then told her. "Well, _Jade_ was sad, 'Talia was rather… Angry" Diana chuckled. 

The thought of Nathalia throwing a tantrum to her older sister because she couldn't come along was enough to bring a tiny smile on Clarke's lips. 

"I have to go back to Beauxbatons" Diana said again. "We were thinking…" She trailed off, suddenly very interested at looking at her shoes, which intrigued Clarke because Diana had never been shy to say or do anything. Clarke nodded to her, encouraging her to continue. 

"We were wondering if you would have liked to come over. This summer" Diana finally said. "At our house, I mean."

"For holidays?" Clarke's brows rose in surprise, as she had not been expecting that. 

"Well, yeah" Diana shrugged, toying with a corner of Clarke's hospital sheets. "Only if you want, of course, and Aska is welcomed too" Diana then started to ramble, "I know you know nothing about us and that you've only just discovered about us being distant family but…"

"Yeah, I'll come" Clarke cut her off, a small smile on her face. 

"Yeah?" Diana smiled back, happy with the prospective. 

"Yes" Clarke nodded. 

"Cool." Diana nodded back. "I have to leave. So… You'll write to us?"

"I will" Clarke said, and as Diana was getting up to leave, Clarke caught her by the wrist before she could walk away. "I..." Clarke trailed off, not knowing how to tell her cousin what she needed. 

Somehow, Diana understood, and gently slid her arms around her younger cousin, hugging her with delicate attention to be sure she wasn't hurting Clarke's recovering body. Clarke sighed into the hug, content about the feeling that it was bringing her; she couldn't put words on it, but it was like coming home, in a way. Diana was 

"We'll see each other soon, Clarke" Diana threw her a last smile, and she was gone. 

* * *

After one last full check-up by Madam Pomfrey, Clarke was finally able to leave the infirmary. In the castle, everything was buzzing around as everyone was getting ready for the big feast. Clarke walked across the wall of points, were Slytherins were first; no surprises though, with how many points they had lose for Gryffindor with all their adventures… In the back of her mind, Clarke told herself that she had had enough adventures for a lifetime, and promised herself not to lose a single house points in the next six years she still had to be in Hogwarts. 

Finally reaching the big Hall, Clarke took a deep breath before entering the room, seeing that almost everybody was already seated around their tables, ready for the ceremony to begin. A few whispers started to grow as she starting walking in-between tables to reach her own. Lowering her eyes at suddenly being the center of attention, it thankfully didn't last long as a brunette was throwing herself at her. 

"Clarke!" A chocked voice said as the Blonde recognized Octavia's arms closing around her body in a firm hug, "I was so worried…"

"I'm fine, O" Clarke smiled back, returning the hug and looking at her friend. 

Then, Clarke was engulfed into another hug as Hermione had got up too. "You scared us for a second" Hermione told her, herself too a bit emotional. Clarke then spotted Harry, who looked fine but tired. Then, Ron, with a couple scratches on his face, probably due to his fall off his stoned horse back to the chess game. 

Suddenly, Clarke's heart constricted into her chest when her eyes landed on the only person wearing blue at their table of red students. 

Somehow, Raven sensed her friend's distress, and opened her arms, gesturing for Clarke to come give her a hug. "Come on Griffin, I want my hug too."

With tears in her eyes threatening to fall down, Clarke almost threw herself at her friend's neck, whispered apologies into her ear, blaming herself for what had happened to her. 

"It's ok Clarke" Raven soothed her, "Really, I promise. Look" Raven broke the hug so she could show her new brace to Clarke. "I've changed some stuff, because Madam Pomfrey isn't great with mechanic" Raven said, while faking being annoyed, "But once we're home, Sinclair will help me upgrade it."

Still, Clarke couldn't shake the guilty feeling that was weighting on her chest. None of this would have happened if she hadn't pushed them into this. She sat down next to Harry, as he leaned over to her. 

"I'm glad you're ok too, Clarke" He smiled to her as Clarke returned it, then his face fell. "Don't blame yourself for Raven's leg. _I_ was the one to bring you into this. I'm the one responsible."

"You didn't force us to follow you" Clarke retorqued, "But I am the one who insisted that Raven took us inside the tunnels."

"Drop it, both of you" Raven then firmly told them as she was up, and having heard them as she was heading towards Ravenclaw's tables, "None of you is responsible for this. This only responsible is that fucker of Voldemort."

Ron paled as Raven said the name, but did nothing to stop her. Reluctantly, Harry and Clarke nodded, and they watched Raven walk back to her table, leaning on a crutch to help her walk since she was still not completely used to the brace. 

"So, what happened after I fainted?" Clarke asked them, guessing that Harry knew more about it. 

"Octavia and I ran back to Ron and Raven. We got them out - with difficulty - but when we came out on the third floor, Dumbledore was already there" Hermione explained. "He saw us, and _somehow_ , he knew you two had gone chasing the bad guy."

"Yes, so Dumbledore got to us in time" Harry started his tale again, "Your cousin was there, too. Diana I think, the older one, right?"

Clarke nodded, because she already knew that. "She came to see me in the infirmary. She just left for Beauxbatons."

"Dumbledore took Quirrell off of me" Harry explained. "You saw the blisters on his skin, wherever he touched me?" 

Clarke nodded, because in her semi-conscious state, she remembered seeing the pain on Quirrell's body every time he was trying to touch her friend. 

"Dumbledore told me it was because of when my parents sacrificed themselves for me" Harry told them, "They created a kind of superior power, powered by the love my parents had for me."

"Voldemort cannot understand love, nor the power it holds" Clarke guessed. "That's why Quirrell couldn't touch you."

"Yeah, that's what Dumbledore said" Harry hummed. "He also told me my father saved Snape's life, and that was the reason why he had tried protecting me this year; because Snape felt like he was indebted to my father."

"When I think we thought he was the bad guy…" Octavia sighed, leaning on the table, still tired about the recent events. She hadn't slept well without Clarke in their dormitories and Raven being injured, and had spent the last couple of nights talking until very late with Hermione and Ron.

"It was Dumbledore that gave me the invisibility cloak" Harry then revealed to them. 

"Do you think he meant for any of this, when giving you the cloak and everything?" Octavia wondered. 

"Well if he did, that was not very smart of him" Hermione said, "Because someone could have gotten _killed."_

"I think that somehow, he knows everything that goes around the school" Harry thoughtfully said. "He knew we would go after the Stone, and instead of keeping us from doing it, he taught us just enough to help."

Clarke nodded, because as Harry, she was now convinced that Dumbledore was, indeed, once of the greatest wizards of all time. And as if on cue, their Headmaster came into the room, heading for the professors' tables as they were ready to start the feast. 

"Dumbledore told me something else" Harry then said, only for Clarke to hear. "Our parents went to school together. He told me they were friends. Funny that we are friends too, right?"

Clarke agreed, her heart filling with a sensation she could not describe. 

"One last thing" Harry whispered to her. "Lexa was there, too. To save us, with Dumbledore, Aksa and your cousin. She was there."

Stunned, Clarke then remembered like a flash the green eyes she had seen before fainting. Quickly turning her head around the Slytherin table, she had no trouble spotting the Brunette, as Lexa was already watching her from afar. Clarke gave her a thankful nod, hoping that Lexa would understand the gesture, before they could talk together. 

* * *

A couple of minutes later, Dumbledore came into the great hall, a big grin on his face, as babbles were gradually disappearing. 

"Another year gone!" He said, "And what a year it had been!" He joined the other teachers at their table. "Now, the House Cup needs awarding and there are the scores : Fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points, third Hufflepuff with 352 points, second place for Ravenclaw with 426 points and first place for Slytherin with a total of 472 points."

Slytherins students busted into happy chears as they banged their goblets on their tables, congratulating themselves for yet another House Cup won. Clarke smiled at Raven as she was cheering for her own house, along with her Ravenclaws friends; they actually could have won the house Cup, if Raven hadn't lost 50 points for getting Norbert out of Hogwarts. 

"Yes, very well done Slytherin" Dumbledore hummed, a grin on his face, although Harry thought it was more looking like Dumbledore had another trick up his sleeve. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

Students fell silent again as the room went still, all eagerly waiting for what Dumbledore had to say. 

"I have a few last-minute points to give" He told them. "So, first... To Mr Ronald Weasley". 

Ron almost choked on air, going red at the second the headmaster had said his name. 

"For the best-played game of Chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house 25 points."

Gryffindor students broke into cheers for the readhead, as Ron himself was still looking red, but proud. But Dumbledore didn't seem to be done. 

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the head of fire, I give another 25 points to Gryffindor". Hermione also went red, burying her head in her hands as Clarke was lightly embracing her, congratulating her. Gryffindor students were now seated on the edge of their seats, waiting and daring to hope for just a little bit of points more. 

"Third, to Miss Raven Reyes and Miss Octavia Blake, for their unwavering and unconditional support to whom who need them, 25 points will be given to each Ravenclaw and Gryffindor houses." Raven blushed as blue-dressed students patted her on the back, and from her table, Clarke and Octavia saw her wink at them, proud of herself, as Octavia was also congratulated for the points she was earning them. It tugged at Clarke's heart a bit, but seeing Raven happy helped her get rid of some of the guilt she felt. 

"Then, To Miss Clarke Griffin, for always seeking out the truth and her drive to protect, I award Gryffindor House 40 points." Once again, Gryffindor house erupted into shouts and cries of joy as Clarke was getting pats and light touches from students. 

"To Mr Harry Potter" Dumbledore continued as the room fell very silent again, "For pure nerve and outstanding courage... 40 points more for Gryffindor." Students were now breaking their own voices shouting, as the ones who had done the math had just figured out they had as many points as Slytherin did; if only Harry had been given only one point more... 

"There are all kinds of courage" Dumbledore then said, visibly still not finished talking, smiling as he was talking. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as muchto stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

People in Hogsmeade could have believed an explosion had taken please inside the castle so much everyone started shouting and clapping at the Gryffindor table. Clarke, Octavia, Ron, Hermione and Harry stood up alongside every other Gryffindor students, yelling and cheering for Neville, who was now barely visible under a pile of people hugging him. 

As she was cheering, Clarke suddenly felt a pair of eyes bore into her skull, and turned around to see who was watching her; Lexa, sitting at Slytherin tables, was discreetly clapping her hands, probably one of the few slytherins who were doing the same, for most of them were pale and bitter for having lost. With a tiny smile, Lexa nodded to Clarke. Recognising the gesture as a congratulations, Clarke nodded back, offering a smile to the brunette, before turning around again to jump into dinner. 

* * *

Before they knew it, exams results came in, and Clarke was almost surprised when they did, having forgotten about exams with all that they had been through in the last few days. To their great surprises, Ron, Harry, Octavia and Clarke had passed their year, Clarke even having obtained a not-that-bad a grade in potions. Hermione and Raven had both of course came out of exams with outstanding grades, first of their houses without any surprises. Having barely the time to talk or even _see_ her, it was Bellamy that told Clarke that Lexa had passed, too. 

A day later, results came from Beauxbatons for Clarke and Lexa, both of them having passed french exams too. 

Suddenly, their closets were empty, their suitcases full, and they were at the train station, ready to step into the train which would take them back to London's station. 

"You must come and stay over in the summer" Ron told them. "All of you, when you can". 

"I'll need something to look forward to" Harry happily nodded, already thinking about having to go back to the Dursleys. 

"You've got us now" Octavia offered him. "And Clarke's probably going to stay with her cousins, so the rest of us will need each other to keep ourselves entertained."

"yeah, because without me you are nothing and get bored in a minute" Clarke smirks at her friend. 

"Nope, it's only because we don't have anyone else to bully" Raven shrugged, feigning to be serious as the rest of the group busted into laughter. Clarke was almost into the train when she heard someone call her name, halting her steps. She turned around to see Lexa lightly running up to her, cheeks a little bit red, probably from the run. 

"Clarke" Lexa repeated, a bit breathless. Clarke noticed how Lexa didn't seem to be ready to hop on the train; but then again, Clarke remembered as Lexa was from France, and was probably getting back to Beaubatons, back to her tutor. 

Clarke waited a couple of seconds, trying to know what did Lexa could want; the Brunette seemed to be scanning her body, and Clarke understood. Her face turned into a soft one, a tiny smile tugging at her lips at Lexa's care for her. They hadn't been able to talk, since their last adventure and Clarke ending up in the infirmary; Clarke now felt a bit guilty at not taking the time to go talk to Lexa and thank her for rescuing them. 

"I am fine, Lexa" Clarke gently said, watching as Lexa's tense shoulders seemed to relax just a bit, "I promise you, I'm healed from... You know."

Clarke watched as Lexa seemed to fight whatever was in her head, before she saw the Brunette nod at her. Once again, Clarke almost thought that Lexa wasn't going to say a word. 

But then... "Write to me?" Lexa finally whispered, barely loud enough for Clarke to hear. 

"Yeah" Clarke smiled again, this time jumping on the first march of the train as Aska was doing the same. "I'll write to you."

Lexa nodded again, this time almost completely relaxed as a content expression seemed to grow on her face. Clarke smiled one last time, gave Lexa a little wave, and got onto the train. 

* * *

"This has been a great year, hasn't it?" Clarke then sighed, once they had reached London and were ready to go their separate ways. 

Harry nodded. "Thank you all for this."

Hermione smiled, giving each other them a quick hug - even Ron - before trotting up to her parents, embracing them at the second she had reached them. 

Ron said goodbye too, meeting up with the rest of his brothers and their parents, waiting for him so they could go. 

"So, it's only us, orphans people, now?" Raven joked. 

"I'm here" Bellamy shrugged, "And this one is _not_ supervision-free." He pointed to his little sister, grinning as she was rolling her eyes at him. "Come on, Sinclair must be waiting for us."

Raven, Bellamy and Octavia then walked away to join Sinclair, who was probably waiting for them on the parking lot. 

"Who's picking you up?" Harry then curiously asked Clarke, seeing that she wasn't leaving with her friends. 

"My mom" Clarke sighed, not very looking forwards to whatever her mom would say about everything that had been going on this year. 

"You know, sometimes people can surprise you" Harry then surprisingly said in a soft voice, "Look at Snape. He hates us, but still protected us all year, even if he was hard on us. Sometimes people have reasons we cannot yet understand."

"Maybe you're right" Clarke hummed as she spotted her mother walking towards them. "Don't stay alone this summer, alright?" Clarke then told him, "We are always all together. You can join us every time you want to escape your aunt and uncle."

Harry nodded, silently thanking the blonde. They then shared a quick hug, before parting, as both of them walked over to their families. This was going to be an interesting summer, Clarke was sure of it. 

**END OF YEAR 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it folks, end of school year number 1 ! 
> 
> I'll be jumping right into year 2, of course, and I'll start with the summer, a bit like the books. Tell me your thoughts about what you think will happen to our heroes next year !
> 
> A big thank you to all of you for having supported me and read me :)


	21. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, year two is up with the first chapter! Go read it! :)

So guys, year one is finished, it's time for year two, which will follow the whole gang through their second year! Don't wait, and go to the next work of this series and tell me all about it :) 

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for the typos my work could have; I'm a french girl, and english is not my first language. Feel free to leave comments !


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